TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study participants.
| Variables | HF patients (n = 29) | Healthy controls (n = 30) | P value |
| Age, years | 60.69 (11.67) | 60.0 (9.64) | 0.8062 |
| Sex, male | 24 (83%) | 10 (33%) | <0.0001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.0 (3.47) | 24.9 (3.08) | 0.2849 |
| NYHA class (III/IV) | 10/19 | — | — |
| HFrEF/HFpEF/HFmrEF | 21/1/8 | — | — |
| Hypertension | 14 (48%) | 11 (37%) | 0.3757 |
| Diabetes | 10 (34%) | 5 (16.7%) | 0.1202 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 10 (6.7%) | 0 (0) | 0.0003 |
| Smoking | 12 (41.4%) | 6 (20%) | 0.0769 |
| Echocardiographic parameters | |||
| LVEDD, mm | 62.0 (8.67) | 43.7 (3.99) | <0.0001 |
| LVEF, % | 33.8 (9.1) | 63.2 (4.65) | <0.0001 |
| SV, ml | 46.7 (11.1) | 68.9 (11.94) | <0.0001 |
| E/e’ | 19.3 (6.5) | 13.4 (3.1) | <0.0001 |
| Laboratory parameters | |||
| TnI, ng/dL | 55.87 (0.10–88.7) | 0.012 (0–0.048) | 0.0007 |
| NT-proBNP, pg/mL | 4745.7 (1130–16755) | 124.0 (25–258) | <0.0001 |
| Leukocyte,109/L | 7.2 (3.00) | 6.7 (1.74) | 0.4366 |
| Neutrophils,109/L | 4.9 (2.51) | 4.0 (1.30) | 0.0878 |
| Lymphocytes, 109/L | 1.63 (0.61) | 2.1 (0.65) | 0.0110 |
| Monocyte, 109/L | 0.5 (0.18) | 0.4 (0.14) | 0.0632 |
| Hemoglobin, g/L | 140.7 (26.53) | 140.8 (17.04) | 0.9834 |
| BUN, mg/dl | 8.0 (3.04) | 5.5 (1.81) | 0.0003 |
| Serum creatinine, mg/dl | 87.4 (35.16) | 67.4 (18.35) | 0.0078 |
| Fast glucose | 6.5 (3.67) | 5.2 (1.30) | 0.0698 |
| Cholesterol | 4.2 (0.96) | 5.0 (0.90) | 0.0013 |
| Triglycerides | 1.5 (0.92) | 1.9 (1.66) | 0.2305 |
| HDL-C | 0.9 (0.22) | 0.91 (0.22) | 0.8917 |
| LDL-C | 2.5 (0.87) | 2.9 (0.80) | 0.0592 |
| Treatment diuretics | 29 (100%) | — | — |
| β blocker | 27 (93%) | — | — |
| MRA | 29 (100%) | — | — |
| ACEI/ARB/ARNI | 26 (90%) | — | — |
| SGLT2i | 21 (72%) | — | — |
Results are presented as median (with standard error or upper and lower quartiles) or% where appropriate. BMI, body mass index; NYHA, New York Heart Association; HFrEF, heart failure with reduced EF; HFpEF, heart failure with preserved EF; HfmrEF, heart failure with midrange EF; LVEDD: left ventricular end diastolic diameter; LVEF: Left ventricular ejection fraction; TnI, Troponin I; NT-proBNP: NT-pro B-type natriuretic peptide; HDL-C, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol; LDL-C, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol; MRA, Aldosterone receptor antagonist; ACEI, Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor; ARB, Angiotensin receptor antagonist; ARNI, Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor; SGLT2i, Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor.