Cardiac biomarkers of heart failure in chronic kidney disease

Heart failure remains a continuing threat to patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although various heart failure biomarkers have been applied for early detection, diagnosis and prognosis in CKD, these are easily affected by renal insufficiency thus limiting use in these patients. In this review, the major four groups of heart failure biomarkers are explored. These include those associated with: myocardial stretch, ie, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) and mid-regional proatrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP); myocyte injury, ie, high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT), heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP); fibrosis, matrix remodelling and inflammation, ie, soluble growth stimulating gene 2 (sST2), galectin-3 (Gal-3), growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15); and renal function, ie, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), cystatin C (CysC), urinary sodium and urinary albumin. This review highlights classic heart failure biomarkers with critical values adjusted to glomerular filtration rate, summarizes research progress of new heart failure biomarkers and future research directions. Because diagnostic and prognostic usefulness of a single time point biomarker is limited, biomarkers should be combined and monitored at multiple times for optimal clinical impact.