New parameters and markers are constantly being sought to help better assess patients with heart failure (HF). ST2 protein has gained interest as a potential biomarker in cardiovascular disease. It is known that the IL-33/ST2L system belongs to the cardioprotective pathway, which prevents the fibrosis, hypertrophy, and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and also inhibits the inflammatory response. Soluble ST2 (sST2) is involved in the immune response and secreted in response to the mechanical overload of the myocardium, thus providing information on the processes of myocardial remodeling and fibrosis. A total of 110 hospitalized patients diagnosed with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) were included in the study. Clinical and biochemical parameters were studied. During the follow-up, 30.9% patients died and 57.3% patients reached the composite endpoint. Using ROC curves, the reference cut-off point for sST2 was determined to be 45.818 pg/mL for all-cause deaths. Significantly higher concentrations of inflammatory parameters and natriuretic peptides were found in the group of patients with higher sST2 concentrations. sST2 protein is an independent risk factor for all-cause deaths of patients with HFrEF.

Frailty syndrome (FS) has recently attracted attention as one of the major predictors of heart failure (HF) course severity. We aimed to develop a simple tool for predicting frailty in hospitalized HF patients using routine clinical parameters. A total of 153 hospitalized patients diagnosed with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) were included in the study. Presence of FS was assessed with the SHARE-FI questionnaire. Clinical and biochemical parameters were collected. Using ROC curves and logistic regression analysis, a model predicting FS presence was developed and tested. Proposed model includes five variables with following cut-off values (1 point for each variable): age > 50 years, systolic pressure on admission < 110 mmHg, total cholesterol < 4.85 mmol/L, bilirubin ≥ 15.5 mmol/L, and alanine aminotransferase ≤ 34 U/L. Receiving 5 points was considered a high risk of FS with positive and negative predictive values (NPV), 83% and 72%, respectively, and specificity of 97%. Awarding 2 points or less ruled out FS in the studied group with negative predictive value 94%. The presented novel, simple score predicts FS in HFrEF patients with routine clinical parameters and has good positive and negative predictive values.

This study aimed to investigate the role of appetite loss and malnutrition in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). In this prospective, observational, single-center study, we enrolled 120 consecutive adults with HFrEF. We analyzed the selected clinical, echocardiographic, and biochemical parameters. Appetite loss and malnutrition were assessed by CNAQ (Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire) and MNA (Mini Nutritional Assessment)/GNRI (Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index) questionnaires, respectively.Most patients were men (81.7%), mean age was 55.1 ± 11.3 years, and mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 23.9 ± 8.0%. The mean CNAQ score was 28.8 ± 3.9, mean MNA—23.1 ± 2.6, and mean GNRI—113.0 ± 12.3. Based on ROC curves, we showed that a sodium concentration <138 mmol/L had the greatest discriminating power for diagnosing impaired nutritional status (MNA ≤ 23.5) with a sensitivity of 54.5% and specificity of 77.8%. The threshold of HDL 738.6 pg/dL had 48.5% sensitivity and 80.8% specificity, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein >1.8 mg/L had 94.9% sensitivity and 42.9% specificity, and bilirubin >15 µmol/L had 78.2% sensitivity and 56.9% specificity. Nutritional status and appetite assessed by MNA/GNRI and CNAQ questionnaires showed poor correlations with other findings in HFrEF patients.

Despite significant advances in HF diagnosis and treatment over the recent decades, patients still characterize poor long-term prognosis with many recurrent hospitalizations and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to check the potential relationship between clinical, biochemical, or echocardiographic parameters and HRQoL in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). We included 152 adult patients hospitalized due to chronic HFrEF. We used the WHOQoL-BREF questionnaire to assess HRQoL and GNRI to evaluate nutritional status. We also analyzed several biochemical parameters and left ventricle ejection fraction. Forty (26.3%) patients were hospitalized due to HF exacerbation and 112 (73.7%) due to planned HF evaluation. The median age was 57 (48–62) years. Patients with low somatic HRQoL score had lower transferrin saturation (23.7 ± 11.1 vs. 29.7 ± 12.5%; p = 0.01), LDL (2.40 (1.80–2.92) vs. 2.99 (2.38–3.60) mmol/L; p = 0.001), triglycerides (1.18 (0.91–1.57) vs. 1.48 (1.27–2.13) mmol/L; p = 0.006) and LVEF (20 (15–25) vs. 25 (20–30)%; p = 0.003). TIBC (64.9 (58.5–68.2) vs. 57.7 (52.7–68.6); p = 0.02) was significantly higher in this group. We observed no associations between HRQoL and age or gender. The somatic domain of WHOQoL-BREF in patients with HFrEF correlated with the clinical status as well as biochemical and echocardiographic parameters. Assessment of HRQoL in HFrEF seems important in everyday practice and can identify patients requiring a special intervention