PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

Increased Circulating Cathepsin K in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure.

  • Guangxian Zhao,
  • Yuzi Li,
  • Lan Cui,
  • Xiang Li,
  • Zhenyi Jin,
  • Xiongyi Han,
  • Ennan Fang,
  • Yihua Gao,
  • Dongmei Zhou,
  • Haiying Jiang,
  • Xueying Jin,
  • Guanghao Piao,
  • Xiangshan Li,
  • Guang Yang,
  • Jiyong Jin,
  • Enbo Zhu,
  • Meina Piao,
  • Limei Piao,
  • Kuichang Yuan,
  • Yanna Lei,
  • Dazhi Ding,
  • Chengzhi Jin,
  • Yongshan Nan,
  • Xianwu Cheng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0136093
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 8
p. e0136093

Abstract

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Cysteinyl cathepsin K (CatK) is one of the most potent mammalian collagenases involved in cardiovascular disease. Here, we investigated the clinical predictive value of serum CatK levels in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). We examined 134 patients with CHF, measuring their serum CatK, troponin I, high-sensitive C-reactive protein, and pre-operative N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels. The patients were divided into two groups: the 44 patients who showed a left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40% (the "lowLVEF" group) and the 90 patients showing LVEF values ≥ 40% (the "highLVEF" group). The lowLVEF patients had significantly higher serum CatK levels compared to the highLVEF patients (58.4 ± 12.2 vs. 44.7 ± 16.4, P < 0.001). Overall, a linear regression analysis showed that CatK levels correlated negatively with LVEF (r = -0.4, P < 0.001) and positively with LV end-diastolic dimensions (r = 0.2, P < 0.01), LV end-systolic dimensions (r = 0.3, P < 0.001), and left atrial diameters (r = 0.3, P < 0.01). A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that CatK levels were independent predictors of CHF (odds ratio, 0.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.95; P < 0.01). These data indicate that elevated levels of CatK are closely associated with the presence of CHF and that the measurement of circulating CatK provides a noninvasive method of documenting and monitoring the extent of cardiac remodeling and dysfunction in patients with CHF.