For years, cardiologists have zeroed in on a hormone called BNP, B-type natriuretic peptide, as a gold standard to determine if patients with heart failure are at risk of severe illness or death. A new study from Michigan Medicine, in conjunction with the Emory Clinical Cardiovascular Research Institute, finds that levels of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, or suPAR, an immune protein known to play a role in kidney disease, are high in patients with heart failure and predict both heart failure and death. The study also found that the ability to diagnose risk factors was more effective when suPAR and BNP were combined.
