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The Cutting Edge

Biomarker Predicts Which Heart-failure Patients at Higher Risk of Death within One-to-three Years

Biomarker Predicts Which Heart-failure Patients at Higher Risk of Death within One-to-three Years

Neurons from patients with heart failure (left) have lower neuropeptide Y content (brown) than those from control patients (right), due to increased release into the heart and circulation during severe heart failure. Images: Courtesy of Dr. Olujimi A. Ajijola

A UCLA-led study revealed a new way to predict which patients with “stable” heart failure — those who have heart injury but do not require hospitalization — have a higher risk of dying within one-to-three years. Although people with stable heart failure have similar characteristics, some have rapid disease progression while others remain stable. The research shows that patients who have higher levels of neuropeptide Y, a molecule released by the nervous system, are 10 times more likely to die within one-to-three years than those with lower levels of neuropeptide Y.

About half of people who develop heart failure die within five years of their diagnosis, according to an American Heart Association report, but it hasn’t been understood why some live longer than others despite receiving the same medications and medical-device therapy. The researchers set out to determine whether a biomarker of the nervous system could help explain the difference. To date, no other biomarker has been identified that can so specifically predict the risk of death for people with stable heart failure.

Olujimi A. Ajijola, MD, PhD

Olujimi A. Ajijola, MD, PhD

UCLA cardiologist Olujimi A. Ajijola, MD (FEL ’13, ’14), PhD, and his research colleagues analyzed blood from 105 patients with stable heart failure, searching for a distinct biomarker in the blood that could predict how likely a person would be to die within a few years. They found that neuropeptide Y levels were the clearest and most significant predictor. The scientists also compared nerve tissue samples from patients with samples from healthy donors and determined that the neurons in the people who were most at risk for dying from heart failure were likely releasing higher levels of neuropeptides.

The results could give scientists a way to distinguish very-high-risk patients with stable heart failure from others with the same condition, which could inform which patients might require more aggressive and targeted therapies. The study also highlights the need for heart-failure therapies that target the nervous system. Further studies could help determine whether or not a patient’s risk for death can be ascertained through less invasive measures, such as a simple blood draw, and whether or not early aggressive intervention in these people could reduce their risk of death.

— Alana Prisco

 

“Coronary Sinus Neuropeptide Y Levels and Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Stable Chronic Heart Failure,” JAMA Cardiology, December 26, 2019


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Winter 2020

Winter 2020
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IN THIS ISSUE
  • Lessons from Sherm
  • Father’s X Chromosome May Yield Clues to Higher Rates of Autoimmune Disease in Women
  • Researchers Create Accurate Model of Organ Scarring
  • Biomarker Predicts Which Heart-failure Patients at Higher Risk of Death within One-to-three Years
  • Targeted Therapy Drug Extends Lives of Women with Aggressive Breast Cancer
  • Can a “Battery Leak” Trigger the Onset of Type 2 Diabetes?
  • Molecular Changes in Cells of Eye’s Lens Predict Future Cataracts
  • UCLA Addresses Increasing Demand with New Master’s in Genetic Counseling
  • Truth Seeker
  • Sherm
  • Repairing and Reversing Damage Caused by Huntington’s Disease
  • Cells’ Mitochondria Work Much Like Tesla Battery Packs
  • The Who and Friends Rock Private Show for UCLA Health and Teen Cancer America
  • A Confounding Case
  • Body Image Concerns Are Universal
  • “We Do Better with Diversity”
  • Annual UCLA Health System Board Meeting Turns Its Focus to Cardiac Care
  • UCLA Operation Mend Cheered on at New York City Veterans Day Parade
  • A Decade in Review: 7 Exciting Health Care Breakthroughs
  • MRI May Help Doctors Differentiate Causes of Memory Loss
  • On the Road to Health Care Equality
  • Learning To Listen
  • Photo Synthesis
  • Awards & Honors
  • In Memoriam
  • David Geffen Adds $46 Million to Landmark Medical Scholarships Program
  • Nearly 2,000 Guests Attend Party on the Pier for UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital
  • Golden Visionary Ball Raises More than $1 Million for UCLA Neurosurgery
  • Dr. Hans Gritsch Named Inaugural Chair in Kidney Transplantation
  • Nonprofit Heart of the Brain Fuels the Fight against Brain Cancer
  • UCLA Supporters Raise Money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
  • Dancing for NED Fundraiser Fights Ovarian Cancer
  • Gifts
  • In Memoriam
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