Background: There is increasing evidence that endocrine system may be dysfunctional in patients with heart failure.
Objectives: In the present study, we investigated hormonal abnormalities in heart failure and the effect of disturbed hormonal balance on prognostic outcomes of patients with systolic heart failure.
Patients and methods: Among patients followed in Heart Failure and Transplantation Clinic, 33 men with a diagnosis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy receiving guidelines-directed medical therapies and with New York Heart Association Class II-III were enrolled. Serum concentrations of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), thyroid hormones, free testosterone, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT Pro-BNP) were measured in all the patients. The physical performance of patients was assessed by six-minute walk test (6MWT). The patients were subsequently followed for a year and the data regarding their death, transplantation, or hospitalizations due to acute heart failure were recorded.
Results: Except for testosterone level, the levels of GH, IGF-1, T3, and T4 concentrations in the patients were significantly lower than the normal values (P < 0.05). Among different hormone, only GH had correlation with NT Pro-BNP, hs-CRP, and 6MWT. There was no association between the occurrence of the combined events and different hormonal levels in multivariate analysis.
Conclusions: The hormonal levels were low in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. However, the prognostic significance of different hormonal deficiencies was not clear in our study populations who were receiving standard therapies for heart failure and had a relatively stable clinical condition.
Keywords: Heart Failure; Hormonal level; prognosis.