AUTHOR=Zhou Qing-Fen , Lu Qiu-Ya , Dai Yang , Chen Qiu-Jing , He Xiao-Shuang , Chen Shuai , Zhao Jun-Tao , Zhang Feng-Ru , Lu Lin , Yang Fan 

TITLE=The value of phenylalanine in predicting atrial fibrillation risk in chronic heart failure

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2024.1392548

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2024.1392548

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=Backgrounds Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common complication of chronic heart failure (HF). Serum phenylalanine (Phe) levels is related to inflammation disorder. It is meaningful to study the circulating Phe with AF occurrence in HF.The cross-sectional study recruited 300 patients (78.0% male, mean age 65 ±1 3 years) with HF (left ventricular ejection fraction≤50%, containing 70 AF patients) and 100 normal controls. Serum Phe value was measured by liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to measure the association between Phe and AF risk in HF. The association between Phe and highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) was assessed by simple correlation analysis. In the prospective study, the 274 HF subjects (76.6% males, mean age 65 ±13 years) were followed up for a mean year (10.99±3.00 months).Serum Phe levels were increased along with the control, the HF without AF, and the HF with AF groups (77.60±8.67 umol/L vs. 95.24±28.58 umol/L vs. 102.90±30.43 umol/L, Avona P<0.001). Serum Phe value was the independent risk factor for predicting AF in HF [odds ratio, 1.640; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.150-2.339; P = 0.006]. Phe levels were correlated positively with hsCRP value in HF patients with AF (r = 0.577, P<0.001). The elevated Phe levels were associated with a higher risk of HF endpoint events in HF patients with AF (Log-rank P=0.005).In HF with AF subjects, elevated Phe value confers an increased risk for prediction AF and was more related to poor HF endpoint events. Phe can be a valuable index of AF in HF.