Predictive value of osteoprotegerin and heart fatty acid binding protein as biomarkers for heart failure in chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis: A case-control study

Heart failure (HF) is a major cause of mortality worldwide, especially among patients undergoing regular dialysis. The current research aimed to assess the potential of measuring osteoprotegerin (OPG) and HFABP levels as predictors for HF in a chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis in a case-control study that was conducted on 130 Iriqi patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing hemodialysis who divided into two groups of hemodialysis patients: those without HF (group 1, n =80) and those with HF (group 2, n=50). The results revealed that age, Osteoprotogerin (OPG), Heart fatty acid binding protein (HFABP) , cholesterol, Trigelecirid (TG), Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) and Low Diensity Lipoprotein were higher in HF compared to the non-HF group. OPG and HFABP levels were more than doubled in the HF group, and these differences were highly statistically significant. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that OPG and HFABP performed well in differentiating between HF and non- HF patients, with area under the curve values of 0.922 and 0.860, respectively. Logistic regression revealed that OPG and HFABP were the strongest predictors of HF, with an odds ratio of 8.71 and 1.09, respectively. It was concluded that OPG and HFABP can be considered as biomarkers for predicting of HF in dialysis patients with OPG, in particularly, showed strong predictive value. These findings have implications for the development of improved diagnostic and management strategies for (HF) in ESRD.