Soluble ST2 correlates with some indicators of right ventricular function in hypertensive heart failure

Dike B Ojji,1,2 Sandrine Lecour,2 Olusoji M Adeyemi,3 Karen Sliwa2,4 1Cardiology Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria; 2Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; 3Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria; 4Mary McKillop Institute for Health Research, ACU, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Purpose: ST2 receptor, which is a member of the Toll-like/interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor family, has been found to be increased in the serum of patients 1day after myocardial infarction. Several other studies have shown that soluble ST2 levels correlate with severity of heart failure (HF), left ventricular ejection fraction, creatinine clearance, B-type natriuretic peptide and C-reactive protein, and are predictors of mortality in HF. Most of these studies were not only limited to ischemic heart disease but also concentrated on left-sided HF. We therefore decided to study the relationship between soluble ST2 and some markers of right ventricular (RV) function in a cohort of hypertensive HF subjects.Patients and methods: This is a prospective cohort study of hypertensive HF patients presenting to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, over a 12-month period. ST2 was measured in plasma sample by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Right ventricular diameters in diastole (RVDD) and right atrial area (RAA) were obtained on echocardiography, while right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) was estimated from echocardiography by the addition of the pressure gradient between the right ventricle and right atrium (RA) to the pressure in the RA.Results: There was a significant correlation between RVSP and soluble ST2 (t=0.75, p