Plasma Olink Proteomics Reveals Novel Biomarkers for Prediction and Diagnosis in Dilated Cardiomyopathy with Heart Failure

In this study, we utilized the Olink Cardiovascular III
panel to
compare the expression levels of 92 cardiovascular-related proteins
between patients with dilated cardiomyopathy combined with heart failure
(DCM-HF) (n = 20) and healthy normal people (Normal) (n = 18). The
top five most significant proteins, including SPP1, IGFBP7, F11R,
CHI3L1, and Plaur, were selected by Olink proteomics. These proteins
were further validated using ELISA in plasma samples collected from
an additional cohort. ELISA validation confirmed significant increases
in SPP1, IGFBP7, F11R, CHI3L1, and Plaur in DCM-HF patients compared
to healthy controls. GO and KEGG analysis indicated that NT-pro BNP,
SPP1, IGFBP7, F11R, CHI3L1, Plaur, BLM hydrolase, CSTB, Gal-4, CCL15,
CDH5, SR-PSOX, and CCL2 were associated with DCM-HF. Correlation analysis
revealed that these 13 differentially expressed proteins have strong
correlations with clinical indicators such as LVEF and NT-pro BNP,
etc. Additionally, in the GEO–DCM data sets, the combined diagnostic
value of these five core proteins AUC values of 0.959, 0.773, and
0.803, respectively indicating the predictive value of the five core
proteins for DCM-HF. Our findings suggest that these proteins may
be useful biomarkers for the diagnosis and prediction of DCM-HF, and
further research is prompted to explore their potential as therapeutic
targets.