Caused by an obstruction of the small pulmonary arteries and leading to heart failure, pulmonary arterial hypertension is a serious condition with a high mortality rate whose development is difficult to predict. A key factor in the disease’s prognosis is right ventricular function. The research project conducted by Olivier Boucherat, Sébastien Bonnet and Steeve Provencher, researchers at the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ), is contributing to the development of new non-invasive methods to assess the severity of the disease.
Relying on a multiomics strategy to identify new high-value biomarkers to predict the evolution of the disease, the team established an approach that combines analyses of the RNA and proteins expressed in the right ventricles and blood of a group of people with pulmonary hypertension and then compares the results with those of members of a control group. The analyses help identify the latent-transforming growth factor beta-binding protein 2 (LTBP2), whose levels are higher in pulmonary hypertension patients.
In collaboration with a research team based in England and led by Prof. Allan Lawrie, the IUCPQ showed that plasma LTBP2 levels are indicative of right ventricular failure in subjects with pulmonary hypertension. Indeed, higher levels of the protein in the right ventricle are linked to the increased production of scar tissue that impairs ventricular function. The LTBP2 protein could therefore serve as a biomarker to better predict a patient’s clinical condition and optimize their care.
Reference:
Boucherat, O., Yokokawa, T., Krishna, V., Kalyana-Sundaram, S., Martineau, S., Breuils-Bonnet, S., Azhar, N., Bonilla, F., Gutstein, D., Potus, F., Lawrie, A., Jeyaseelan, J., Provencher, S. et Bonnet, S. Identification of LTBP-2 as a plasma biomarker for right ventricular dysfunction in human pulmonary arterial hypertension. Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2022, 1(8), 748-760. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-022-00113-w