Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Aug;154(2):291-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2007.04.006.

Clinical and echocardiographic correlates of plasma procollagen type III amino-terminal peptide levels in the community

Thomas J Wang  1 , Martin G Larson, Emelia J Benjamin, Deborah A Siwik, Radwan Safa, Chao-Yu Guo, Diane Corey, Johan Sundstrom, Douglas B Sawyer, Wilson S Colucci, Ramachandran S Vasan
Affiliations

Clinical and echocardiographic correlates of plasma procollagen type III amino-terminal peptide levels in the community

Thomas J Wang et al. Am Heart J. 2007 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Left ventricular remodeling is characterized by increased collagen deposition in the extracellular matrix. Levels of plasma procollagen type III amino-terminal peptide (PIIINP), a marker of collagen turnover, are elevated in the setting of recent myocardial infarction, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy. Whether plasma PIIINP levels are a useful indicator of subclinical left ventricular abnormalities in ambulatory individuals has not been studied.

Methods: We examined 967 Framingham Heart Study participants (mean age, 56 years; 60% women) who underwent routine echocardiography and measurement of plasma PIIINP levels. All participants were free of prior myocardial infarction or heart failure. Multivariable regression analyses were performed to examine the clinical and echocardiographic correlates of PIIINP levels.

Results: Plasma PIIINP levels increased with age and body mass index but did not significantly correlate with other cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension and diabetes. In multivariable models, there was no association between plasma PIIINP levels and left ventricular mass (P = .89), left ventricular fractional shortening (P = .15), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (P = .51), or left atrial size (P = .68). Plasma PIIINP levels were positively correlated with tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 levels (multivariable-adjusted, P = .001).

Conclusions: The use of biomarkers of extracellular matrix turnover has generated recent interest, with plasma PIIINP being the most commonly studied biomarker in acute settings. However, our findings in a large, community-based cohort suggest that plasma PIIINP has limited use for the detection of structural heart disease in ambulatory individuals.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cohn JN, Ferrari R, Sharpe N. Cardiac remodeling--concepts and clinical implications: a consensus paper from an international forum on cardiac remodeling. Behalf of an International Forum on Cardiac Remodeling. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2000;35:569–582. - PubMed
    1. Hess OM, Schneider J, Koch R, et al. Diastolic function and myocardial structure in patients with myocardial hypertrophy. Special reference to normalized viscoelastic data. Circulation. 1981;63:360–371. - PubMed
    1. McLenachan JM, Dargie HJ. Ventricular arrhythmias in hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy. Relationship to coronary artery disease, left ventricular dysfunction, and myocardial fibrosis. Am J Hypertens. 1990;3:735–740. - PubMed
    1. Weber KT, Brilla CG. Pathological hypertrophy and cardiac interstitium. Fibrosis and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Circulation. 1991;83:1849–1865. - PubMed
    1. Diez J, Laviades C, Mayor G, et al. Increased serum concentrations of procollagen peptides in essential hypertension. Relation to cardiac alterations. Circulation. 1995;91:1450–1456. - PubMed

Publication types