Blood Proteins May Predict Risk Of Heart Failure

"Improved methods to identify individuals who are at the highest risk are very important to personalize therapy so that the most intensive efforts for prevention are focused on the individuals at highest risk," says Dr. Christie Ballantyne.

This study investigated whether plasma troponin I measured by an hs-Tnl assay was associated with incident of CVD and mortality, and included analyzing data from 8,121 participants without baseline CVD between the ages of 54-74 from the 30 year ARIC study, with a median follow up period of 15 years; increased levels of troponin I was found to be associated with cardiac outcomes, specifically heart attack and fatal coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure hospitalization, and death.

A statistically significant improvement in risk prediction was observed when troponin I was added to the Pooled Cohort Equation risk prediction model, with the largest improvement seen in predicting risk for developing heart failure.

Measurement of troponin T protein, also used for diagnosis of heart attack, was observed to provide additional information: those with elevation of both troponin I and troponin T biomarkers had an increased risk for cardiovascular disease events and death when compared to those with a single elevated protein.

"Improved blood tests such as high-sensitivity troponins may be important tools to identify more precisely who is at greatest risk, and future studies will need to test the optimal methods to prevent heart attacks, strokes and heart failure in such individuals."