Increased transforming growth factor-ß associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Prognostic marker

Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common genetic heart disease characterized by myocardial fibrosis. Several major cytokines are identified to contribute fibrotic responses. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-s) is one of the major profibrotic cytokines which is implicated in cardiac fibrosis. Purpose We sought to explore changes in TGF-s levels between patients with HCM and non HCM and to test if his higher levels may be related to poor prognosis in HCM. Methods A total of 31 patients with HCM and 39 non HCM were enrolled. enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure serum levels of TGF-s, amino terminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP) and plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and tissue inhibitor (TIMP)-2. We used the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to find a cutoff value. The 95% confidence interval (CI) was also calculated for sensitivity and specificity. Results Serum TGF-s levels were significantly higher in HCM patients than in non-HCM subjects (123.56 ± 72.58 versus 38.88 ± 21.10 pg/mL; P P  = 0.001). PIIINP was correlated positively with maximal wall thickness ( r  = 0.622; P  P  = 0.006) and left ventricular (LV) mass indexed ( r  = 0.777; P   57.86 pg/mL can predict adverse events with a specificity of 84% and a sensitivity of 86% [area under curve (AUC): 0.906, 95% CI: 0.825–0.988, P  = 0.04]. Conclusion The higher levels of TGF-s in this present study suggest that TGF-s could be a prognostic marker in HCM.