Biochemical markers of myocardial remodelling in hypertensive heart disease

Abstract

The intricate mechanisms responsible for the structural remodelling of the myocardium that facilitates the evolution to heart failure in hypertensive patients, namely in those with left ventricular hypertrophy, requires from clinicians the utilization of a multibiomarker approach for short-term and long-term stratification as well as prognostication of patients. Biochemical markers may also help to identify patients with no clinical evidence of hypertensive heart disease, and provide information about the need for more aggressive therapy during different stages of the disease, and potentially provide valuable biochemical data for the specialist. Although there is a continuous and complex interplay between biochemical and imaging markers, perhaps their use will also have the potential to modify the medical management of patients with hypertensive heart disease and therapeutic decision-making by tailoring a targeted therapy according to the predominant mechanism of myocardial remodelling. This article will review in brief the most relevant information on a panel of circulating molecules that may accomplish the criteria required to be considered as biochemical markers of the cardiomyocyte and non-cardiomyocyte structural changes that occur in the hypertensive myocardium.