Plasma Calprotectin Levels in Patients with Severe Mitral Regurgitation

ABSTRACT
Introduction: Calprotectin is an inflammatory protein complex which is stored in the cytosol of phagocytes and released into extracellular matrix during inflammatory response. Previous studies demonstrated that levels of plasma calprotectin were higher in patients with heart failure and acute coronary syndrome. We aimed to investigate whether levels of plasma calprotectin differed between two different etiologies of mitral regurgitation; functional and degenerative mitral regurgitation.
Methods: A total of 24 patients diagnosed with severe functional mitral regurgitation (FMR), 36 patients diagnosed with severe degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR), and 22 control subjects were prospectively enrolled in this study. All participants underwent echocardiographic examinations. Plasma calprotectin levels were quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kit.
Results: Age, gender, and cardiovascular risk factors did not exhibit significant differences between the FMR, DMR, and control groups. Plasma calprotectin levels were found to be higher in the FMR group compared to both the DMR group and the control group (p <0.001 and p= 0.002, respectively).
Conclusion: Our research revealed elevated plasma calprotectin levels among individuals diagnosed with severe FMR. It appears that calprotectin levels are influenced more by heart failure rather than specifically by mitral regurgitation.
Keywords: Heart failure, mitral regurgitation, calprotectin, acute coronary syndrome