Angiopoietin-Like Protein 7 and Short-Term Mortality in Acute Heart Failure

INTRODUCTION: Angiopoietin-like protein 7 (ANGPTL7) is involved in extracellular matrix expression and inflammatory responses. However, the prognostic utility of ANGPTL7 among patients with acute heart failure (AHF) remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between ANGPTL7 and short-term mortality due to AHF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with AHF were prospectively studied. Serum levels of ANGPTL7 were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Associations between 30- and 90-day mortality and tertiles of ANGPTL7 were assessed by multivariate logistic regression models. The study comprised 142 patients. Median patient age was 68 years, and 69.7% were male. There were 20 deaths within 30 days and 37 deaths within 90 days. Crude rates of 30-day mortality in low, intermediate, and high tertiles of ANGPTL7 were 4.6, 14.6, and 22.9%, respectively. Crude rates of 90-day mortality of corresponding tertiles were 15.2, 25.0, and 37.5%. After adjusting for potential confounders, including NT-proBNP, the high tertile of ANGPTL7 was associated with a significantly increased risk of both 30-day mortality (odds ratio [OR]: 6.77, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.41-32.61, p = 0.017) and 90-day mortality (OR: 3.78, 95% CI: 1.38-10.36, p = 0.010) compared with the low tertile of ANGPTL7. Although mortality risk tended to be higher in the intermediate tertile than the low tertile, it did not reach statistical significance (OR: 3.75, 95% CI: 0.73-19.14, p = 0.113 for 30-day mortality; OR: 1.88, 95% CI: 0.66-5.34, p = 0.236 for 90-day mortality). CONCLUSIONS: Serum level of ANGPTL7 was independently associated with short-term mortality among patients with AHF.