Potential Biological Markers of Atrial Fibrillation: A Chance to Prevent Cryptogenic Stroke

Table 2

Markers of fibrosis.

Biomarker	Trials	Patients	Results	Potential DX efficiency in cryptogenic stroke
Galectin-3	1 prospective trial	3306	↑ Gal-3: ↑ risk of developing AF after adjusting for clinical risk factors: ⦸ significant	+
	1 prospective trial	76	Galectin-3 ↑ in AF compared with the control galectin-3 ↑ in persistent AF compared with paroxysmal AF
	1 prospective trial	33	Galectin-3 level is an independent correlate of the extent of LA fibrosis in paroxysmal AF patients
TGF-β1	1 prospective trial	75	TGF-b1 ↑ in cAF and pAF group compared with SR group; ⦸ difference in TGF-b1 levels between the cAF group and the pAF group	+−
MMP-9	1 prospective trial	75	MMP-9 levels ↑ gradually from paroxysmal AF through persistent AF, permanent AF	+
GDF-15	1 prospective trial	67	GDF-15 ↑ in paroxysmal AF independently associated with paroxysmal AF	+
Multimarker	1 prospective trial	52	Galectin-3, MMP-9, and PIIINP ↑ in AF	+
	1 prospective trial	2935	PIIINP showed a nonlinear association with incident AF; ⦸ association between circulating TGF-β1 levels and incident AF

+−: questionable; +: potentially useful; ↑ increased; ⦸: no.