Abstract
AIMS: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is common in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Patients with DM and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction have higher levels of cardiac, profibrotic, and proinflammatory biomarkers relative to non-diabetics. Limited data are available regarding the biomarker profiles of HFpEF patients with diabetes (DM) vs. no diabetes (non-DM) and the impact of spironolactone on these biomarkers. This study aims to address such gaps in the literature. METHODS AND RESULTS: Biomarkers were measured at randomization and at 12 months in 248 patients enrolled in Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist's North American cohort. At baseline, DM patients had significantly lower estimated glomerular filtration rate and higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, pro-collagen type III amino-terminal peptide, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1), and galectin-3 levels than those without diabetes. There was a significantly larger 12 month increase in levels of high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT), a marker of myocyte death, in DM patients. Elevated pro-collagen type III amino-terminal peptide and galectin-3 levels were associated with an increased risk of the primary outcome (cardiovascular mortality, aborted cardiac arrest, or heart failure hospitalization) in DM patients, but not in those without diabetes. A statistically significant interaction between spironolactone and diabetes status was observed for hs-TnT and for TIMP-1, with greater biomarker reductions among those with diabetes treated with spironolactone. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of diabetes is associated with higher levels of cardiac, profibrotic, and proinflammatory biomarkers in HFpEF. Spironolactone appears to alter the determinants of extracellular matrix remodelling in an anti-fibrotic fashion in patients with diabetes, reflected by changes in hs-TnT and TIMP-1 levels over time.