Background: Tenascin-C (TN-C), an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, is specifically expressed at high levels during embryonic development, but not in the adult heart. TN-C reappears at sites of inflammatory tissue remodeling or wound healing under various pathologic conditions, such as acute myocardial infarction, acute myocarditis, and some cases of cardiomyopathy. Therefore, the expression of TN-C might be useful for detecting the clinical characteristics of, and ventricular remodeling in, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).
Methods and results: Circulating serum TN-C levels in 107 patients with DCM were measured using an ELISA kit. Clinical data were also assessed by Pearson's or Spearman's correlation analysis to estimate correlations between variables. Serum TN-C levels in DCM patients were higher than those in normal controls (p<0.001). TNC levels showed a significantly positive correlation with New York Heart Association functional class (p<0.001), B-type natriuretic peptide level (p<0.001), cardiothoracic ratio on chest X-ray (p<0.01), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (p<0.05) and left ventricular end-systolic diameter (p<0.01), and a significantly negative correlation with left ventricular ejection fraction (p<0.01).
Conclusions: The findings suggest that increased serum TN-C levels indicate the severity of heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction and remodeling in patients with DCM.