Acute, Chronic, and Treated Aortic Diseases Present Distinguishable Serum Proteome Fingerprints with Protein Profiles That Correlate with Disease Severity

Abstract

Aortic diseases are a rare but potentially life-threatening condition. We present a serum proteomic study for a spectrum of aortic diseases including thoracic aortic aneurysms (n = 11), chronic dissections (n = 9), acute aortic dissections (n = 11), and surgically treated dissections (n = 19) as well as healthy controls (n = 10) and patients of coronary heart disease (n = 10) to represent non-aortic cardiovascular disease. In total, we identified and quantified 425 proteins across all 70 samples. The different aortic diseases represented distinguishable proteome profiles. We identified protein clusters that positively or negatively correlate with disease severity, including increase of cytosolic tissue leakage proteins and decrease of components of the coagulation and complement system. Further, we identified a serum proteome fingerprint of acute aortic dissections, consisting, among others, of enriched inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein and members of the S100 protein family. The study underlines the applicability of serum proteomics for the investigation of aortic diseases and highlights the possibility to establish disease-specific prognostic markers.

Understanding the current acute aortic syndrome (AAS) pathways—The Collaborative Acute Aortic Syndrome Project (CAASP) protocol

“…Despite this, D-dimer lacks specificity since it may be elevated in several other conditions. Transthoracic echocardiography (TEE) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) continue to be the gold standard diagnostic techniques for AAS, however, there are new biomarkers on the horizon [11] that could prove to be specific in diagnosing AAS [12]. Suitable patient selection for imaging still constitutes a major diagnostic dilemma, with concerns for radiation exposure risks in low-suspicion cases and busy radiology departments with finite imaging capacity playing a role in the decision to proceed to cross-sectional imaging.…”