Urocortin 2 (Ucn2) has powerful hemodynamic, renal, and neurohormonal actions and likely participates in normal circulatory homeostasis and the compensatory response to heart failure (HF). A validated assay for endogenous circulating Ucn2 would facilitate investigations into Ucn2 physiology and elucidate its derangement and potential as a biomarker in heart disease.
We developed a chemiluminescence-based sandwich ELISA to measure plasma N-terminal (NT)-proUcn2 in non-HF patients (control; n = 160) and HF patients with reduced (HFREF; n = 134) and preserved (HFPEF; n = 121) left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).
The ELISA had a limit of detection of 8.47 ng/L (1.52 pmol/L) and working range of 23.8-572 ng/L. Intra- and interassay CV and total error were 4.8, 16.2, and 17.7%, respectively. The median (interquartile range) plasma NT-proUcn2 concentration in controls was 112 (86-132) ng/L. HFREF, HFPEF, and all HF plasma concentrations were significantly increased [117 (98-141) ng/L, P = 0.0007; 119 (93-136) ng/L, P = 0.0376, and 119 (97-140) ng/L, P = 0.001] compared with controls but did not differ significantly between HFREF and HFPEF. NT-proUcn2 was modestly related to age (r = 0.264, P = 0.001) and cardiac troponin T (r = 0.258, P = 0.001) but not N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, body mass index, LVEF, or estimated glomerular filtration rate. On multivariate analysis, plasma NT-proUcn2 was independently and inversely related to 2-year survival in HF.
The validated ELISA measured human NT-proUcn2 in plasma and showed modest but significant increases in HF patients compared with controls. In HF, the unusual inverse relationship between plasma NT-proUcn2 and 2-year mortality portends potential prognostic value but requires further corroboration.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
1
4%
Nursing and Health Professions
1
4%
Chemistry
1
4%
Other
1
4%
Unknown
8
30%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 09 May 2016.
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#14,258,962
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#6,254
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#190,601
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Outputs of similar age from Clinical Chemistry
#30
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