Metabolomic Profiling of Heart Failure Patients and Identification of Early Biomarkers for Disease Progression

Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome of cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of heart to support the blood circulation. Heart failure is considered to result from complex interactions among genetic, neurohormonal, inflammatory, and other biochemical changes on cardiac myocytes. HF is associated with high mortality (50% within 5 years) and rehospitalization rates (25 to 50%). The systematic knowledge about interactions between risk factors for HF as well as the mechanism underlying such interactions and the onset of HF remains largely unknown. Identification of any early biomarkers or biosignature for HF progression could lead to earlier intervention and potentially improve clinical outcomes. In addition, HF causes improper circulation and inadequate oxygen and nutrient supply, leading to significant changes in metabolism of patients. Identification of such metabolic changes is critical to understanding of pathogenesis of and pathophysiological consequences of HF. Moreover, HF is frequently accompanied by anemia, the pathogenic mechanism of which is complex and incompletely understood. Anemia probably contributes to HF pathogenesis and to increased mortality risk. A thorough understanding of HF pathogenesis and development of prognostic and diagnostic biomarker entails a study of metabolism of HF patients in a holistic manner. The goal of the present proposal is to apply metabolomics for studying HF pathogenesis, and for discovery of multi-biomarker panel. The biomarker panel will serve for diagnosis and prognosis of HF, and for monitoring HF progression and outcome of treatment. Finding in support of this idea is that the plasma metabolite profiles differ between patients at different HF stages (for a limited number of patients). We propose to study the profiles of hydrophilic and lipophilic metabolites of plasma and RBCs from HF patients, and to correlate such metabolomic data with demographic and clinical data. This 3 year project aims to translate metabolomics data into development of multi-biomarker panel for staging and prognosis of HF, and for monitoring HF progression and the efficacies of intervention measures; it aims to gain an insight into HF pathogenesis; and it aims to study the pathogenesis and pathophysiological consequences of HF-associated anemia. The present research project will improve the knowledge about the pathogenesis of HF and development of novel early biomarkers for prognosis and diagnosis, and will lead to improved treatment and medical care for HF patients.

Project ID:PC10308-0645
External Project ID:MOST103-2320-B182-020