Expression and Clinical Implications of pro-BNP and Soluble ST2 in Chronic Heart Failure.

Abstract

Aims/Background Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a complex clinical syndrome resulting from various cardiac diseases, characterized by weakened cardiac pumping capacity and inadequate blood supply to body tissues. This study aims to investigate the expression and clinical implications of pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (pro-BNP) and soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) in CHF to explore their potential in early diagnosis and severity assessment of the pathological condition. Methods This study included 146 CHF patients treated at our hospital from January 2022 to December 2023, who were classified in the observation group, and 150 concurrent healthy people categorized in the control group. pro-BNP and sST2 levels in the observation and control groups were compared. The diagnostic value of pro-BNP and sST2 in CHF was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Besides, pro-BNP and sST2 levels in patients with different New York Heart Association (NYHA) grades were compared, and their relationships with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left atrial diameter (LAD), and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) were assessed by means of Pearson's correlation. Results CHF cases showed markedly higher pro-BNP and sST2 levels than healthy controls (p < 0.05). The area under the ROC curves for pro-BNP and sST2 in diagnosing CHF was 0.826 (95% CI: 0.778-0.875) and 0.733 (95% CI: 0.674-0.791), respectively. pro-BNP and sST2 levels were similar in grades I and II patients (p > 0.05), but lower when compared with those in grades III and IV patients (p < 0.05). Grade III patients showed lower pro-BNP and sST2 expression than grade Ⅳ patients (p < 0.05). Additionally, pro-BNP and sST2 had an inverse connection with LVEF (r = -0.764 and r = -0.535, respectively) and a positive correlation with LAD (r = 0.752 and r = 0.535, respectively) and LVEDD (r = 0.721 and r = 0.544, respectively). Conclusion pro-BNP and sST2 exhibit good diagnostic value for CHF, owing to their close association with patients' cardiac function. These biomarkers can be used as effective indicators to evaluate the severity of heart failure.