Sflt-1 in Heart Failure: Relation with Disease Severity and Biomarkers

Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) is an endogenous inhibitor of endothelial growth factors, such as placental growth factor (PlGF), which modulates cardiovascular (CV) remodeling. We determine sFlt-1 levels in patients with heart failure (HF) and its relationship to adverse cardiovascular (CV) events and biomarkers of cardiovascular risk. Levels of sFlt-1 and PlGF levels were also determined in healthy volunteers and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). SFlt-1 and PlGF were clearly increased in HF patients in comparison to T2DM patients or healthy subjects (p < 0.01). Concentration of sFlt-1 was related to HF severity (p < 0.001) and was correlated to NT-proBNP (ρ = 0.37, p < 0.01), soluble ST2 (ρ = 0.52, p < 0.01), Galectin-3 (ρ = 0.38, p < 0.01), aldosterone (ρ = 0.25, p = 0.01) and PTH(1-84) (ρ = 0.38, p < 0.01). Furthermore, sFlt-1 levels were associated to long-term CV risk. These results suggest a potential role of sFlt-1 in HF and its potential role as biomarker of CV risk.