Serum metabolic characteristics and biomarkers of early-stage heart failure.

We aimed to identify metabolic characteristics of early-stage heart failure (HF) and related biomarkers. One hundred and forty-three patients with New York Heart Association class I-IV HF and 34 healthy controls were recruited. Serum metabolic characteristics of class I HF were analyzed and compared with those of class II-IV HF. Potential biomarkers of class I HF with normal N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level were screened and validated in additional 72 subjects (46 class I patients and 26 controls). Eleven metabolites were found disturbed in class I HF, and five of which were also disturbed in class II-IV HF. Glutamine and tyrosine showed high value to identify class I HF with normal NT-proBNP level. The diagnostic potential of glutamine was partially confirmed in the validate set, holding a promise to detect early HF with normal NT-proBNP level.