Abstract
The aim of the study was to analyse and compare the transcriptional activity of the TGF-β1 gene and its receptors in patients with heart failure based on coronary artery disease and patients with coronary artery disease without heart failure, taking into account the presence of individual risk factors, the stage of heart failure and the number of diseased coronary arteries. The study included 105 patients with advanced heart failure (NYHA III-IV) and 52 patients with coronary artery disease without heart failure. The study was performed using the QRT-PCR technique. The transcriptional activity of the TGF-β1 gene and its type III receptor was significantly lower in patients with advanced heart failure. In this group of patients with risk factors such as previous myocardial infarction, family history, overweight/obesity and arterial hypertension, a statistically significant reduction in TGF-β1 gene expression was demonstrated. In patients with heart failure, changes in the transcriptional activity of all receptor's genes were found when these patients were burdened with risk factors. The reduced transcriptional activity of TGF-β1 and its type III receptor demonstrated in patients with heart failure may be a useful marker in clinical practice for assessing the progression of coronary artery disease towards the development of heart failure, as well as its decompensation and compensation.