Extracellular volume by CMR is associated with serum biomarkers of extracellular matrix turnover and inflammation in hypertensive heart disease

Used Proseek in combination with cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in a study looking at diffuse myocardial fibrosis (a risk factor in hypertensive heart disease). CMR was used to measure increased extracellular volume (ECV), which is indicative of myocardial fibrosis, and as expected, was found to be higher in two groups of hypertension patients (with and without left ventricular hypertrophy, LVH) than in control subjects. Used the Proseek CVD panel to see if any protein biomarkers correlated with ECV values. MMP-7, CXCL1, FABP4 all correlated significantly with ECM measurements, in all three groups. These proteins have a good, logical mechanistic link to ECV, for which the pathophysiology is believed to involve systemic inflammation that results in remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Both CXCL1 and FABP4 play known roles in inflammation, while MMP-7 is a metalloprotease involved in ECM remodeling. This was a short report using only small numbers of samples, but was certainly interesting in that the 3 protein biomarkers identified had a clear mechanistic connection to the physical observation they were found to correlate with.