Patients with HF and STEMI showed significantly higher plasma Wisper expression than that of controls (p = 0.021 and p = 0.03, respectively), with no significant difference between the HF and STEMI groups (p = 1.0). In patients with HF, Wisper expression negatively correlated with age (rho = -0.452, p = 0.016). ROC analysis demonstrated good discriminatory power of Wisper in distinguishing HF (AUC = 0.783, 95% CI: 0.648-0.919, p = 0.002) and STEMI (AUC = 0.780, 95% CI: 0.658-0.903, p = 0.002) from controls. The elevated plasma expression of Wisper in patients with HF and STEMI suggests its potential role as a circulating biomarker of cardiac fibrosis.
Lylia I. Stoyanova (Tue,) studied this question.