The correlation between elevated levels of branched-chain amino acids and increased risk of congestive heart failure

  AIM  To investigate the correlation between branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) levels and the risk of congestive heart failure (CHF).

  METHODS  Between January 2016 to January 2017, 150 hospitalized patients (120 males and 30 females) diagnosed with congestive hearth failure (CHF) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) less than 45 in the Department of Cardiology of Xijing Hospital were included as the CHF group. Meanwhile, 100 healthy people (70 males and 30 females) who had routine physical examination in Xijing Hospital were included as the control group. Biochemical data and clinical data of the study population were collected and further analyzed for correlation.

  RESULTS  BCAA level in the CHF group was significantly higher than that in the normal control group (P < 0.01). Age, body mass index (BMI), proportion of smokers, proportion of hypertension patients, proportion of diabetes patients, proportion of pulmonary hypertension patients, blood pressure, BCAA, amino-terminal brain natriuretic peptide, NT-proBNP, adiponectin (APN), HMW APN, triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) all showed elevated levels and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). However, the serum total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total protein (TP), albumin (Alb) and LVEF in CHF group were significantly lower than those in the normal control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). After correcting other factors that may affect the BCAA level, the plasma BCAA level in the CHF patient group increased significantly (P < 0.01). The BCAA level in the CHF patient group was positively correlated with gender and LDL-C(R=-0.193, P=0.044), respectively, and negatively correlated with HDL-C(R=-0.201, P=0.0338). The BCAA level of CHF patients with myocardial infarction (MI) or ventricular arrhythMIa (ventricular arrhythmia in heart failure (VAHF) was significantly higher than that of CHF patients without MI or VAHF (P < 0.05).

  CONCLUSION  The increase of BCAA levels in CHF patients was negatively correlated with the occurrence and development of CHF. BCAA levels were negatively correlated with HDL-C level and positively correlated with LDC-C level and combined MI or VAHF.