title: Evaluation of Innate Immunity Biomarkers on Admission and at Discharge From an Acute Heart Failure Episode.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The involvement of the immune system in heart failure (HF) has been demonstrated. Evidence shows that innate immunity can have a role in the remodeling process and progression of HF. With previous studies showing the prognostic value of some innate immunity markers and their relevance in this condition, we aim to evaluate how these markers vary on hospitalization due to an acute episode of HF and at discharge.
  
  
  METHODS
  About 154 patients admitted with acute HF were prospectively recruited. Patients were evaluated on admission and at discharge from the hospital. Patients with infection were separately analyzed. Innate immunity, inflammatory, and cardiac biomarkers were measured and were compared between groups and between admission and discharge and with reference values of biological variation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median patients' age was 78 years, and half of the patients were men. The median duration of hospitalization was 6 days. C3 and C4 protein levels significantly increased (P < 0.001) between admission and discharge, as well as eosinophils (P < 0.001) and BNP levels decreased (P < 0.001). Variation in all these variables was independent of infection and biological variation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that innate immunity markers such as C3 and C4 increase after treatment for acute HF, supporting the hypothesis that they can be involved in the resolution of the acute episode.
authors.affiliation: Unidade I&D Cardiovascular do Porto, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. nunosilva.box@gmail.com.|Departamento de Bioquímica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. nunosilva.box@gmail.com.|Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Centro Hospitalar São João, Porto, Portugal. nunosilva.box@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Centro Hospitalar São João, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Emília
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Patrício
authors.affiliation: Unidade I&D Cardiovascular do Porto, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|Serviço de Medicina Interna, Centro Hospitalar São João, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bettencourt
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.|Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Centro Hospitalar São João, Porto, Portugal.|EPIUnit -Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: João Tiago
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Guimarães
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000378:metabolism; D003181:Complement C4 / Q000378:metabolism; D004452:Echocardiography; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000502:physiology; D007162:Immunoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003176:Complement C3; D003181:Complement C4; D007162:Immunoproteins; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain
keywords: acute disease; biomarkers; heart failure; hospitalization; innate immunity