Increased Serum Level of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 ( GDF ‐15) is Associated with Coronary Artery Disease

Aim There is evidence suggesting that inflammatory responses play a critical role in the development of coronary artery disease ( CAD ). Growth differentiation factor 15 ( GDF ‐15) is a stress‐responsive cytokine. It increases during inflammatory processes and is associated with cardiometabolic risk. However, the relation between GDF ‐15 and CAD remains largely unknown. Herein, we aimed to evaluate serum GDF ‐15 levels and predictive values in patients with CAD . Methods Serum levels of GDF ‐15 in 105 patients with CAD and 96 healthy controls were measured by the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Gensini scores were used to assess severity of CAD . The correlations between the serum GDF ‐15 levels and Gensini scores were examined using Spearman's correlation. Receivers operating characteristic ( ROC ) curve analysis was performed to determine the predictive values of GDF ‐15 levels. Results We found that serum GDF ‐15 levels were significantly increased in CAD group compared with healthy controls group ( P  < 0.001). Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between GDF ‐15 and the Gensini score ( r  = 0.85, P  < 0.001). Moreover, the area under the ROC curve assay yielded a satisfactory result of 0.96 (95% confidence interval 0.94–0.98; P  <   0.001), and the serum GDF ‐15 level had a 80.0% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity for predicting CAD . Conclusions These data suggested that increased GDF ‐15 levels were positively associated with CAD , and GDF ‐15 might be a useful adjunct in discriminating CAD .