Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biomarkers are important tools to assist a clinician with diagnosis, prognosis, and/or screening for a variety of conditions, and also to assist with the clinical management of a patient. In the cardiovascular field, the prevention and early identification of disease states leads to early treatment with improved outcomes, patient satisfaction, reduced healthcare costs, morbidity, and mortality. The identification of early changes contributing to disease states and/or the identification of patients at risk, is typically achieved via a combination of good clinical skills and the availability of appropriate diagnostic modalities. The use of biomarkers provides a diagnostic modality that is typically easy to perform and/or inexpensive. For this Special Issue, entitled “Novel Biomarkers and Therapeutic Discoveries for Cardiovascular Diseases”, we seek manuscripts related to the development, testing, and effectiveness of novel biomarkers in the field of cardiovascular disease, use of established biomarkers for new indications, and use of biomarkers to predict therapeutic responses across a variety of cardiovascular disease states.

Dr. Aaron Sverdlov
Dr. Doan Ngo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Biomarkers
Heart failure
Cardiovascular disease
Personalized medicine
Risk stratification
Prognostication

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

11 pages, 788 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association between Smoking and Urine Indole Levels Measured by a Commercialized Test

by Masataka Mine, Nobuyuki Masaki, Takumi Toya, Takayuki Namba, Yuji Nagatomo, Bonpei Takase and Takeshi Adachi

Metabolites 2022, 12(3), 234; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/metabo12030234 - 09 Mar 2022

Viewed by 2079

Abstract

Indoles are formed from dietary tryptophan by tryptophanase-positive bacterium. A few amounts of indole are excreted in the urine. On the other hand, cigarette smoke contains indoles, which could also change the urine indole levels. This study sought to elucidate the relationship between urine indole levels and smoking habits. A total of 273 healthy men (46 ± 6 years old) were enrolled in the study. Fasting urine and blood samples were obtained in the morning. The indole concentration was measured by a commercialized kit with a modified Kovac’s reagent. The relationship with smoking status was evaluated. The median value of the urine indole test was 29.2 mg/L (interquartile range; 19.6–40.8). The urine indole level was significantly elevated in the smoking subjects (non-smoking group, 28.9 (20.9–39.1) mg/L, n = 94; past-smoking group, 24.5 (15.7–35.5) mg/L, n = 108; current-smoking group, 34.3 (26.9–45.0) mg/L, n = 71). In the current-smoking group, urine indole levels correlated with the number of cigarettes per day (ρ = 0.224, p = 0.060). A multivariate regression test with stepwise method revealed that the factors relating to urine indole level were current smoking (yes 1/no 0) (standardized coefficient β = 0.173, p = 0.004), blood urea nitrogen (β = 0.152, p = 0.011), and triglyceride (β = −0.116, p = 0.051). The result suggests that smoking is associated with increased urine indole levels. The practical test might be used as a screening tool to identify the harmful effect of smoking. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Biomarkers and Therapeutic Discoveries for Cardiovascular Diseases)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

15 pages, 1254 KiB

Open AccessReview

Extracellular Matrix in Heart Disease: Focus on Circulating Collagen Type I and III Derived Peptides as Biomarkers of Myocardial Fibrosis and Their Potential in the Prognosis of Heart Failure: A Concise Review

by Asparuh Nikolov and Nikola Popovski

Metabolites 2022, 12(4), 297; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/metabo12040297 - 28 Mar 2022

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3502

Abstract

Accumulating evidence indicates that two major proteins are responsible for the structural coherence of bounding cardiomyocytes. These biomolecules are known as myocardial fibrillar collagen type I (COL1) and type III (COL3). In addition, fibronectin, laminin, fibrillin, elastin, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans take part in the formation of cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM). In physiological conditions, collagen synthesis and degradation in human cardiac ECM are well-regulated processes, but they can be impaired in certain cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure (HF). Myocardial remodeling is part of the central mechanism of HF and involves cardiomyocyte injury and cardiac fibrosis due to increased fibrillar collagen accumulation. COL1 and COL3 are predominantly involved in this process. Specific products identified as collagen-derived peptides are released in the circulation as a result of abnormal COL1 and COL3 turnover and myocardial remodeling in HF and can be detected in patients’ sera. The role of these products in the pathogenesis of cardiac fibrosis and the possible clinical implications are the focus of numerous investigations. This paper reviews recent studies on COL1- and COL3-derived peptides in patients with HF. Their potential application as indicators of myocardial fibrosis and prognostic markers of HF is also highlighted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Biomarkers and Therapeutic Discoveries for Cardiovascular Diseases)

► Show Figures