Plasma levels of alpha-1-antichymotrypsin are elevated in patients with chronic heart failure, but are of limited prognostic value

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in utilising novel markers of cardiovascular disease risk in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). Recently, it was shown that alpha-1-antichymotrypsin (ACT), an acute-phase protein and major inhibitor of cathpesin G, plays a role in the pathophysiology of HF and may serve as a marker for myocardial distress.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether ACT is independently associated with long-term mortality in chronic HF patients.

METHODS: ACT plasma levels were categorised into quartiles. Survival times were analysed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards regression, without and with correction for clinically relevant risk factors, including sex, age, duration of HF, kidney function (MDRD), ischaemic HF aetiology and NT-proBNP.

RESULTS: Twenty healthy individuals and 224 patients (mean age 71 years, 72 % male, median HF duration 1.6 years) with chronic HF were included. In total, 159 (71 %) patients died. The median survival time was 5.3 (95 % CI 4.5-6.1) years. ACT was significantly elevated in patients (median 433 μg/ml, IQR 279-680) in comparison with controls (median 214 μg/ml, IQR 166-271; p < 0.001). Cox regression analysis demonstrated that ACT was not independently related to long-term mortality in chronic HF patients (crude HR = 1.03, 95 % CI 0.75-1.41, p = 0.871; adjusted HR = 1.12, 95 % CI 0.78-1.60, p = 0.552), which was confirmed by Kaplan-Meier curves.

CONCLUSION: ACT levels are elevated in chronic HF patients, but no independent association with long-term mortality can be established.