New biomarker for heart failure identified

	Tweet

Blood levels of resistin, a hormone produced by fat cells, can independently predict an individual’s risk of heart failure, cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine have found.

Their findings were presented Nov. 12 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions conference in New Orleans.

“This is one of the strongest predictors of new-onset heart failure we’ve been able to find, and it holds up even when you control for other biomarkers and risk factors including High Blood Pressure and diabetes,” says Javed Butler, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine and director of heart failure research at Emory University School of Medicine.

The finding comes out of the Health ABC (Aging and Body Composition) study, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. The Health ABC study followed 3000 elderly people in the Pittsburgh and Memphis areas over seven years starting in 1998.

Although scientists don’t know the exact function of resistin, it appears to be associated with both inflammation and insulin resistance, says Vasiliki Georgiopoulou, MD, a post-doctoral research fellow with Butler who presented these findings. “Recent laboratory studies have also shown that resistin decreases the ability of rats’ heart muscles to contract,” she adds.

In the Health ABC study, the risk of new onset heart failure increased by 38 percent for every 10 nanograms per milliliter increase in resistin levels in blood. Resistin was a stronger predictor of heart failure risk than other inflammatory markers linked to heart disease, such as C-reactive protein, the researchers found.

“Considering the increasing number of people who are obese or have diabetes, very many of them are going to be at some level of risk for heart failure later in life,” Butler says. “The value of a marker such as resistin may be in accurately identifying among this large population of at-risk individuals who is at the highest risk and then targeting interventions to those people.”

###

Investigators from several institutions contributed to the study, including the University of Lausanne, Harvard Medical School, University of California San Francisco, University of Pittsburgh, Wake Forest University, Boston University and the National Institute on Aging.

Contact: Jennifer Johnson

404-727-5696
Emory University

RELATED STORIES:
Scientists turn skin cells into beating heart muscle   Too many people get angioplasties, study suggests   New Blood Thinner May Lower Chances of Clots in High-Risk Heart Patients: FDA   Heart Damage After Chemo Linked to Stress in Cardiac Cells   What’s good or bad for the heart, may be the same for the brain   Warfarin in Heart Failure   Increased Sudden Cardiac Death Rate Among HIV Patients   Air pollution level changes in Beijing linked with biomarkers of cardiovascular disease   Lack of basic evidence hampering prevention of sudden heart attacks in sport   Blacks Less Likely to Get Help on Scene After Cardiac Arrest: Study   Heart attack patients taken to PCI hospitals first treated faster   Cameron Health’s under-skin ICD safe, effective

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]