Epidemiologic observations guiding clinical application of a urinary peptidomic marker of diastolic left ventricular dysfunction

Hypertension, obesity, and old age are major risk factors for left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction (LVDD), but easily applicable screening tools for people at risk are lacking. We investigated whether HF1, a urinary biomarker consisting of 85 peptides, can predict over a 5-year time span mildly impaired diastolic LV function as assessed by echocardiography. In 645 white Flemish (50.5% women; 50.9 years [mean]), we measured HF1 by capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry in 2005-2010. We measured early (E) and late (A) peak velocities of the transmitral blood flow and early (e') and late (a') mitral annular peak velocities and their ratios in 2009-2013. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, per 1-standard deviation increment in HF1, e' was -0.193 cm/s lower (95% confidence interval: -0.352 to -0.033; P = .018) and E/e' 0.174 units higher (0.005-0.342; P = .043). Of 645 participants, 179 (27.8%) had LVDD at follow-up, based on impaired relaxation in 69 patients (38.5%) or an elevated filling pressure in the presence of a normal (74 [43.8%]) or low (36 [20.1%]) age-specific E/A ratio. For a 1-standard deviation increment in HF1, the adjusted odds ratio was 1.37 (confidence interval, 1.07-1.76; P = .013). The integrated discrimination (+1.14%) and net reclassification (+31.7%) improvement of the optimized HF1 threshold (-0.350) in discriminating normal from abnormal diastolic LV function at follow-up over and beyond other risk factors was significant (P ≤ .024). In conclusion, HF1 may allow screening for LVDD over a 5-year horizon in asymptomatic people.