Open AccessAssociation of Plasma Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Levels and the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: A Meta-Analysis
Author(s) -
Jiao Li,
Yajuan Yang,
C. M. Ng,
Zhiwei Zhang,
Tong Liu,
Guangping Li
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0155275
Subject(s) - atrial fibrillation , medicine , risk factor , meta analysis , cardiology , plasma levels
Numerous studies have demonstrated that plasma transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) may be involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF), but some discrepancy remained. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between the plasma level of TGF-β1 and the risk of AF. Methods Published clinical studies evaluating the association between the plasma level of TGF-β1 and the risk of AF were retrieved from PubMed and EMBASE databases. Two reviewers independently evaluated the quality of the included studies and extracted study data. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed to evaluate for heterogeneity between studies. Results Of the 395 studies identified initially, 13 studies were included into our analysis, with a total of 3354 patients. Higher plasma level of TGF-β1 was associated with increased risk of AF when evaluated as both a continuous variable (SMD 0.67; 95%CI 0.29–1.05) and a categorical variable (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.01–1.02). Conclusions This meta-analysis suggests an association between elevated plasma TGF-β1 and new onset AF. Additional studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further investigate the relationship between plasma TGF-β1 and the occurrence of AF.