Relation between plasma urotensin-ii and chronic rheumatic mitral valve disease

Plasma biomarkers that would establish the severity of rheumatic valve disease and predict complication of rheumatic valve disease would be beneficial. Roles of urotensin-II in cardiovascular diseases are emerging. We aimed to measure plasma urotensin-II concentrations in patients with rheumatic valve disease and to examine its correlation with severity of valve involvement, functional class, and pulmonary hypertension.We echocardiographically analysed 71 patients with rheumatic valve disease and 25 normal subjects. Plasma urotensin-II levels are detected by using commercially avaible enzyme immunoassay kit. We assessed their New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class in addition to echocardiographic documentation of pulmonary hypertension and rheumatic valve status.Mitral regurgitation (p=0.02), tricuspid regurgitation (p=0.02), pulmonary artery pressure (p=0.01), and NYHA class (p=0.03) correlated significantly with urotensin-II levels. There was strong correlation between severity of mitral and tricuspid regurgitation and urotensin-II levels (p=0.001 for both). Only pulmonary artery pressure was predictive of urotensin-II (ß=0.3; p=0.02) in lineer regression analysis.This is the first report showing that plasma urotensin-II is correlated with NYHA functional class and is raised in chronic rheumatic valve disease and associated with severe mitral and tricuspid valve regurgitation. Severe pulmonary hypertension is predictive of urotensin-II.Key words: Rheumatic valve disease, Urotensin-II, Echocardiography.