Myokines as biological markers in disorders of carbohydrate metabolism and atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular diseases cause more than half of all deaths. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. The main factor contributing to the development of coronary heart disease is atherosclerosis, which often does not show symptoms in the early stages. Carbohydrate metabolism disorders play an important role in the occurrence and worsening of cardiovascular diseases. The search for cardiovascular biomarkers that could help in the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases and serve as prognostic indicators continues. This scientific review focuses on the importance of assessing myokines. To date, the significance of such myokines as myostatin, irisin, meteorin-like protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, apelin, mitsugumin 53 and others in cardiovascular pathology has been demonstrated. It has been established that myostatin negatively affects carbohydrate metabolism and atherosclerotic processes, worsening the lipid profile, increasing the accumulation of adipose tissue and reducing its “browning”. Suppression of myostatin in myocardial infarction promotes cardiac recovery; its concentrations, along with the level of troponin, reflect myocardial damage. Studies of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor also emphasize the importance and feasibility of its determination in diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease. Evaluation of the level of meteorin-like protein can be useful in diabetes mellitus and assessing the risk of atherosclerosis. A reliable relationship has been established between apelin and irisin with carbohydrate metabolism disorders and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, which also makes them promising therapeutic molecules. Mitsugumin 53 has shown relevance as a marker in atherosclerosis, but its effect on carbohydrate metabolism requires clarification. Serial myokine testing, including the use of multimarker panels, requires further study to confirm its relevance in clinical practice.