Prognostication in different heart failure phenotypes: the role of circulating biomarkers

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is multifactorial syndrome with high cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality rates associated with an increasing prevalence worldwide. Measuring plasma levels of circulating biomarkers, i.e., natriuretic peptides, cardiac-specific troponins, metabolomic intermediates, Galectin-3, ST2, cardiotrophin-1, soluble endoglin and growth differentiation factor 15, may assist in the prognostication of HF development. However, the role of biomarker models in the prediction of an early stage of HF with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and HF with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is not still understood. This review explores the knowledge regarding the utility of cardiac biomarkers, aiming to reclassify patients with different phenotypes of HF. The review reports that several biomarkers reflected on subsequently alter collagen turnover, cardiac fibrosis and inflammation, which might have diagnostic and predictive value in HFpEF and HFrEF. The best candidates for determining the early stage of HF development were sST2, Galectin-3, CT-1 and GDF-15. However, increased plasma concentrations of these biomarkers were not specific to a distinct disease group of HFpEF and HFrEF. Finally, more investigations are required to determine the role of novel biomarkers in the prediction of HF and the determination of the early stages of HFpEF and HFrEF development.