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European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on November 8, 2005
European Heart Journal 2006 27(2):222-226; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi648
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© The European Society of Cardiology 2005. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Reduced apelin levels in lone atrial fibrillation

Patrick T. Ellinor, Adrian F. Low and Calum A. MacRae*

Cardiac Arrhythmia Service and Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA, USA

Received 27 July 2005; accepted 20 October 2005; online publish-ahead-of-print 8 November 2005.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +1 617 726 4343; fax: +1 617 726 5086. E-mail address: cmacrae{at}partners.org

Aims Apelin is an endogenous peptide hormone that appears to have a physiological role in counter-regulation of the angiotensin and vasopressin systems. This peptide has been reported to be down-regulated in subjects with acute heart failure, but has not been studied in other cardiovascular conditions. We studied apelin levels in 73 subjects with lone atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods and results Study subjects had electrocardiographic evidence of paroxysmal or chronic AF and a structurally normal heart on echocardiography. Subjects were excluded if they had a history of coronary artery disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, significant valvular disease, hyperthyroidism, or antecedent hypertension. Controls were recruited from a healthy outpatient population. Plasma apelin levels were determined using a commercially available immunoassay. Seventy-three subjects with lone AF and 73 healthy controls were enrolled and studied. Mean levels of apelin were significantly lower in subjects with lone AF when compared with controls (307 vs. 648 pg/mL, P<0.00005).

Conclusion Reduced apelin levels were observed in this homogenous population of lone AF subjects and may represent an underlying diathesis predisposing to this common arrhythmia.

Key Words: Atrial fibrillation • Arrhythmia • Peptides • Diagnosis


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