NT-PRO-BNP AND URIC ACID LEVELS CORRELATE IN PATIENTS WITH COPD AND HEART FAI- LURE

ADRIANA IOSIP, DANA POP, ADELA SITAR-TAUT, IOANA NICULESCU, BOGDAN CALOIAN, DUMITRU ZDRENGHEA, MIHNEA ZDRENGHEA

University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a frequent comorbidity in heart failure (HF) patients, increa- sing their mortality. Early detection of prognostic markers for the two diseases can be extremely useful. The present study aims to investigate the correlation between uricemia and N-terminal Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-pro-BNP) in patients with both HF and COPD, the latter condition being known as an aggravating factor for HF.

Materials and methods: A total of 101 patients with HF were enrolled. All patients were evaluated through clinical history, physical examination, cardiovascular risk factors, chest X ray, pulmonary function tests, echocardiography and their serum uric acid (UA) and NT-pro-BNP levels (on the first day of admission) were determined.

Results: We noticed a significant correlation between NT-pro-BNP and uric acid levels (r=0.409, p=0.0001). Correlation was present in both sexes, with a higher prevalence in men (r=0.43, p=0.0034) than in women (r=0.38, p=0.012). By looking only at COPD patients, the correlation between NT-pro-BNP and uric acid persisted (r=0.47, p=0.010). Comparing the two genders, in COPD patients the correlation was stronger in women (r=0.57, p=0.031) than in men (r=0.40, p=NS). In non-COPD patients, cor- relation between NT-pro-BNP and uric acid levels was also positive and statistically significant (r=0.41, p=0.0013). By gender, cor- relation was stronger in women (r=0.56, p=0.0014) than in men (r=0.18, p=NS).

Conclusion: Even though NT-pro-BNP values were lower in COPD patients, we found a direct correlation between NT-pro- BNP and uric acid in both COPD and non-COPD patients, and both findings can be regarded as potential contributors to a negative course of HF.