MR-proADM and MR-proANP levels in patients with acute pulmonary embolism

Circulating MR-proADM levels, as an indicator of endothelial dysfunction, for early risk stratification of mid-term mortality in COVID-19 patients

Objectives

Thromboinflammation, resulting from a complex interaction between thrombocytopathy, coagulopathy, and endotheliopathy, contributes to increased mortality in COVID-19 patients. MR-proADM, as a surrogate of adrenomedullin system disruption, leading to endothelial damage, has been reported as a promising biomarker for short-term prognosis. We evaluated the role of MR-proADM in the mid-term mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Methods

A prospective, observational study enrolling COVID-19 patients from August to October 2020. A blood sample for laboratory test analysis was drawn on arrival in the emergency department. The primary endpoint was 90-day mortality. The area under the curve (AUC) and Cox regression analyses were used to assess discriminatory ability and association with the endpoint.

Results

A total of 359 patients were enrolled, and the 90-day mortality rate was 8.9%. ROC AUC for MR-proADM predicting 90-day mortality was 0.832. An optimal cutoff of 0.80 nmol/L showed a sensitivity of 96.9% and a specificity of 58.4%, with a negative predictive value of 99.5%. Circulating MR-proADM levels (inverse transformed), after adjusting by a propensity score including eleven potential confounders, were an independent predictor of 90-day mortality (HR: 0.162 [95% CI: 0.043-0.480])

Conclusions

Our data confirm that MR-proADM has a role in the mid-term prognosis of COVID-19 patients and might assist physicians with risk stratification.

Mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide and copeptin as indicators of disease severity and therapy response in CTEPH

BACKGROUND

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) leads to right heart failure. Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) or balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) restore pulmonary haemodynamics and allow cardiac recovery. This study examined the relationship of copeptin and mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) levels to disease severity and therapy response.

METHODS

This observational cohort study included 125 patients (55 PEA/70 BPA) who underwent treatment and completed a 6-/12-month follow-up. Biomarkers, measured at baseline, prior to every BPA and at follow-up, were compared to 1) severe disease at baseline (right atrial pressure (RAP) ≥8 mmHg and cardiac index ≤2.4 L·min-1·m-2) and 2) optimal therapy response (no persistent pulmonary hypertension combined with a normalised RAP (mean PAP ≤25 mmHg, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) ≤3 WU and RAP ≤6 mmHg) or a reduction in mean PAP ≥25%, PVR ≥35% and RAP ≥25%).

RESULTS

Severely diseased patients had higher levels of MR-proANP (320 (246-527) pmol·L-1 versus 133 (82-215) pmol·L-1; p=0.001) and copeptin (12.7 (7.3-20.6) pmol·L-1 versus 6.8 (4.4-12.8) pmol·L-1; p=0.015) at baseline than the rest of the cohort. At baseline, MR-proANP (area under the curve (AUC) 0.91; cut-off value 227 pmol·L-1; OR 56, 95% CI 6.9-454.3) and copeptin (AUC 0.70; cut-off value 10.9 pmol·L-1; OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-1.9) identified severely diseased patients. After PEA/BPA, levels of MR-proANP (99 (58-145) pmol·L-1; p<0.001) and copeptin (6.3 (3.7-12.6) pmol·L-1; p=0.009) decreased and indicated optimal therapy response (MR-proANP <123 pmol·L-1 (AUC 0.70) and copeptin <10.1 pmol·L-1 (AUC 0.58)).

CONCLUSION

MR-proANP and copeptin levels are affected in CTEPH and decrease after therapy. MR-proANP identifies a severe disease status and optimal therapy response.