title: Elevated calprotectin in patients with atrial fibrillation with and without heart failure.
abstract: Calprotectin is an inflammatory marker, which has been found elevated in patients suffering from cardiac conditions, e.g. myocardial infarction, unstable angina and chronic heart failure. Inflammation has further been linked to atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the association between calprotectin and AF is unknown. We aimed to compare calprotectin levels in patients suffering from AF with healthy adults. In addition, AF patients with and without heart failure were compared. Calprotectin was measured in patients undergoing elective direct current cardioversion for AF. Calprotectin was determined before, 4 hours and 3 months after cardioversion. Healthy blood donors were used to verify the reference interval for calprotectin. In total, 104 prospectively enrolled patients were included. The median serum calprotectin level for AF patients was 1.6 μg/mL before cardioversion. Calprotectin levels increased significantly 4 h (1.9 μg/mL) and 3 months (2.2 μg/mL) after cardioversion. Blood donors' median serum calprotectin (1.3 μg/mL) was significantly lower than AF patients. AF patients with heart failure had significantly higher calprotectin at baseline compared with AF patients without a history of heart failure (2.0 μg/mL vs. 1.5 μg/mL). The difference was not significant at 4 h (2.0 μg/mL vs. 1.7 μg/mL) or 3 months (2.5 μg/mL vs. 2.2 μg/mL). In conclusion, the calprotectin levels in patients with AF were significantly higher than healthy blood donors and were further increased after cardioversion. AF patients with heart failure had significantly higher levels of calprotectin than AF patients without heart failure.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Clinical Biochemistry , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.
authors.forename: Lærke V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Bruhn
authors.affiliation: b Clinical Research Unit , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.|c Department of Internal Medicine , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.|d Research Center for Emergency Medicine , Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark.
authors.forename: Kasper G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Lauridsen
authors.affiliation: b Clinical Research Unit , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.|c Department of Internal Medicine , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.|d Research Center for Emergency Medicine , Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: c Department of Internal Medicine , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rickers
authors.affiliation: e Department of Anaesthesiology , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.
authors.forename: Leif F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Bach
authors.affiliation: c Department of Internal Medicine , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.|d Research Center for Emergency Medicine , Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark.|f Department of Clinical Medicine , Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Løfgren
authors.affiliation: a Department of Clinical Biochemistry , Randers Regional Hospital , Randers , Denmark.
authors.forename: Nete
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hornung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004554:Electric Countershock; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: C-reactive protein; Cardiac arrhythmia; electric countershock; inflammation; leukocyte L1 antigen complex