Relationship between plasma level of cardiotrophin-1 and left ventricular mass index in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

OBJECTIVES The study evaluated the relationship between plasma cardiotrophi n-1 (CT-1) concentration and left ventricular (LV) mass in dilated cardiomy opathy (DCM) patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). BACKGROUND Cardiotrophin-I is a newly identified member of the interleukin- 6 (IL-6) family of cytokines and one of the endogenous ligands for gp130 si gnaling pathways in the heart, and it has potent hypertrophic and survival effects on cardiac myocytes. However, the clinical significance of CT-1 is poorly understood. METHODS We measured the plasma CT-1 level in 51 consecutive patients with D CM. Patients were classified into two groups: small LV mass index group and large LV mass index group, based on the median level of LV mass index. RESULTS The plasma CT-1 level was increased in DCM patients with the severi ty of CHF and was significantly higher in the large LV mass group than in t he small LV mass group, despite the absence of a difference in LV ejection fraction between the two groups. In addition, there was a significant posit ive correlation between the plasma CT-1 level and the LV mass index (r = 0. 627, p < 0.0001). According to stepwise multivariate analyses among hemodyn amic and neurohumoral factors, a high plasma CT-1 level showed an independe nt and significant positive relationship with a large LV mass index in pati ents with DCM. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that the plasma CT-1 level is increased in patients with DCM and is significantly correlated with the LV mass index , suggesting that CT-1 plays an important role in structural LV remodeling in patients with DCM. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;38:1485-90) (C) 2001 by the A merican College of Cardiology.