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. 2022 Sep 6:9:980103.
doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.980103. eCollection 2022.

Transforming growth factor serum concentrations in patients with proven non-syndromic aortopathy

Mikita Karalko  1 , Marek Pojar  1 , Lenka Zaloudkova  2 , Vaclav Stejskal  3 , Salifu Timbilla  1 , Pavla Brizova  1 , Jan Vojacek  1
Affiliations

Transforming growth factor serum concentrations in patients with proven non-syndromic aortopathy

Mikita Karalko et al. Front Cardiovasc Med. .

Abstract

Background: The mechanism underlying aortic dilatation is still unknown. Vascular dilatation is thought to be the result of progressive aortic media degeneration caused by defective vascular matrix hemostasis, including TGF-β1 dysregulation. The goal of this study is to draw attention to the potential utility of TGF-β1 as a diagnostic marker in non-syndromic patients with aortic dilatation.

Methods: TGF-β1 levels in plasma were measured in 50 patients who had undergone surgery and had a tricuspid or bicuspid aortic valve as well as a normal or dilated ascending aorta. A pathologist also examined thirty resected aorta samples. To specify the reference range of TGF-β1, a control group of 40 volunteers was enrolled in this study.

Results: We discovered a significant difference in TGF-β1 levels between patients with aortic dilatation and the control group (32.5 vs. 63.92; P < 0.001), as well as between patients with non-dilated aorta but with aortic valve disease, and the control group (27.68 vs. 63.92; P < 0.001). There was no difference between the dilated ascending aorta group and the non-dilated ascending aorta group. We found a poor correlation between TGF-β1 levels and ascending aorta diameter as well as the grade of ascending aorta histopathological abnormalities.

Conclusion: TGF-β1 concentration does not meet the criteria to be a specific marker of aortic dilatation, but it is sensitive to aortic valvulopathy-aortopathy. A larger patient cohort study is needed to confirm these findings.

Keywords: aortic disease; aortopathy; ascending aorta dilatation; biomarker; transforming growth factor β1.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
TGF-β1 concentrations in patients with dilated and non-dilated aortas according to aortic valve cuspidity. CG, control group; DAA-TAV, dilated ascending aorta- tricuspid aortic valve; DAA-BAV, dilated ascending aorta- bicuspid aortic valve; NDAA-TAV, non-dilated ascending aorta-tricuspid aortic valve; NDAA-BAV, non-dilated ascending aorta-bicuspid aortic valve.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for TGF-β1. Area under the curve = 0.9670 for predicting aortic valvulopathy-aorthopathy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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