Circulating Biomarkers in Elderly Patients with Heart Failure: A Real-Life Study

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome that involves multiple interconnected pathways. Circulating biomarkers in HF emerged as powerful tools for risk stratification, diagnostic confirmation, prognostic assessment, and monitoring of treatment efficacy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate circulating levels of biomarkers in elderly patients with improved HF ejection fraction, previously with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40%, after six months of drug therapy optimisation. Methods: We enrolled 100 HFimpEF outpatients. All patients provided medical history and underwent physical examination at baseline and after six months of follow-up. The serum values of circulating biomarkers were assessed with an ELISA test. Proteomic analysis was performed on serum samples collected from a subset of 13 patients at baseline and after six months of follow-up. Results: At follow-up, we observed significant improvements in glycometabolic, renal and inflammatory profiles (p < 0.001). Proteomic analysis revealed selective changes in key cardiovascular (CV)-related proteins, such as insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 (IBP4), thrombospondin-4 (TSP4), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1), and syndecan-4 (SDC4). Conclusions: This study demonstrates significant improvements across multiple CV biomarkers after six months of therapy optimisation in HFimpEF patients, providing evidence for comprehensive therapeutic effects targeting inflammation, oxidative stress, neurohormonal activation, and thrombotic risk.