Factors associated with cardiac allograft vasculopathy after heart transplantation

INTRODUCTION: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a major threat to long-term survival after heart transplantation (HT). AIM: To determine factors associated with CAV detection in patients after HT. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed 299 consecutive patients after HT who underwent routine visits at our institution between 2016 and 2018. Human interleukin 33 (IL-33) and suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) were measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with a commercially available kit (Human ST-2 and IL-33 ELISA, SunRedBio Technology Co, Ltd, Shanghai, China). RESULTS: The patients’ median age was 59.00 years, and 74.2% were men. The frequency of CAV was 47.5%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that IL-33 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.044 (1.029–1.059), p < 0.001) and ST2 (OR = 1.061 (1.040–1.083), p < 0.001) serum concentrations, donor age (OR = 1.046 (1.009–1.085), p = 0.015), left ventricular diastolic dimension (LVDD) (OR = 1.081 (1.016–1.149), p = 0.013), and time from HT to blood collection (OR = 1.256 (1.151–1.371), p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for CAV. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) indicated good prognostic power of IL-33 and ST2 concentrations (AUC = 0.779 and AUC = 0.784, respectively) and excellent prognostic power of the IL-33/ST2 score (AUC = 0.863). CONCLUSIONS: Lower IL-33 and higher ST2 serum concentrations, as well as older donor age, larger LVDD and longer time from HT to blood collection, are independently associated with CAV. IL-33 and ST2 have good discriminatory power and the IL-33/ST2 score has excellent strength for detecting CAV.