Secretoneurin is a novel prognostic cardiovascular biomarker associated with cardiomyocyte calcium handling.

BACKGROUND

Secretoneurin (SN) levels are increased in patients with heart failure (HF), but whether SN provides prognostic information and influences cardiomyocyte function is unknown.

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to evaluate the merit of SN as a cardiovascular biomarker and assess effects of SN on cardiomyocyte Ca(2+) handling.

METHODS

We assessed the association between circulating SN levels and mortality in 2 patient cohorts and the functional properties of SN in experimental models.

RESULTS

In 143 patients hospitalized for acute HF, SN levels were closely associated with mortality (n = 66) during follow-up (median 776 days; hazard ratio [lnSN]: 4.63; 95% confidence interval: 1.93 to 11.11; p = 0.001 in multivariate analysis). SN reclassified patients to their correct risk strata on top of other predictors of mortality. In 155 patients with ventricular arrhythmia-induced cardiac arrest, SN levels were also associated with short-term mortality (n = 51; hazard ratio [lnSN]: 3.33; 95% confidence interval: 1.83 to 6.05; p < 0.001 in multivariate analysis). Perfusing hearts with SN yielded markedly increased myocardial levels and SN internalized into cardiomyocytes by endocytosis. Intracellularly, SN reduced Ca(2+)/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II δ (CaMKIIδ) activity via direct SN-CaM and SN-CaMKII binding and attenuated CaMKIIδ-dependent phosphorylation of the ryanodine receptor. SN also reduced sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) leak, augmented sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) content, increased the magnitude and kinetics of cardiomyocyte Ca(2+) transients and contractions, and attenuated Ca(2+) sparks and waves in HF cardiomyocytes.

CONCLUSIONS

SN provided incremental prognostic information to established risk indices in acute HF and ventricular arrhythmia-induced cardiac arrest.