Biomarkers for cardiac cachexia: Reality or utopia

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

T. Martins (Author) Other; R. Vitorino (Author) Other; F. Amado (Author) Other; José Alberto Duarte (Author) FADEUP; R. Ferreira (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Clinica Chimica Acta

Vol. 436

Pages: 323-328

ISSN: 0009-8981

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 13 Citations

Scopus - 13 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Social sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-009-PA2

DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2014.06.022

Abstract (EN): Cardiac cachexia is a serious complication of chronic heart failure, characterized by significant weight loss and body wasting. Chronic heart failure-related muscle wasting results from a chronic imbalance in the activation of anabolic or catabolic pathways, caused by a series of immunological, metabolic, and neurohormonal processes. In spite of the high morbidity and mortality associated to this condition, there is no universally accepted definition or specific biomarkers for cardiac cachexia, which makes its diagnosis and treatment difficult. Several hormonal, inflammatory and oxidative stress molecules have been proposed as serological markers of prognosis in cardiac cachexia but with doubtful success. As individual biomarkers may have limited sensitivity and specificity, multimarker strategies involving mediators of the biological processes modulated by cardiac cachexia will strongly contribute for the diagnosis and management of the disease, as well as for the establishment of new therapeutic targets. An integrated analysis of the biomarkers proposed so far for cardiac cachexia is made in the present review, highlighting the biological processes to which they are related. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific