LTBP-2 acts as a novel marker in human heart failure - a preliminary study

Background: We have observed increased expression of latent TGF-beta binding protein (LTBP)-2 mRNA in human failing hearts. This study was aimed to further confirm LTBP-2 act as a novel marker in human acute heart failure. Methods and results: We demonstrated that median level of LTBP-2 in myocardial samples from heart failure patients was significantly elevated, and TGF-beta 1 significantly promoted LTBP-2 expression in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. To investigate the potential of LTBP-2 as a biomarker to diagnose heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFREF), another cohort of 133 consecutive patients with dyspnea were enrolled. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses to detect HFREF, LTBP-2 achieved an area under curve (AUC) of 0.67 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.58-0.75), comparable to the diagnostic ability of NT-proBNP 0.68 (95% CI 0.59-0.77). Conclusion: The serum LTBP-2 levels might act as a promising biomarker in HFREF.