Elevated Plasma Cxcl12 Alpha Is Associated With A Poorer Prognosis In Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

RationaleRecent work in preclinical models suggests that signalling via the pro-angiogenic and pro-inflammatory cytokine, CXCL12 (SDF-1), plays an important pathogenic role in pulmonary hypertension (PH). The objective of this study was to establish whether circulating concentrations of CXCL12 alpha were elevated in patients with PAH and related to mortality.MethodsPlasma samples were collected from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and PAH associated with connective tissue diseases (CTD-PAH) attending two pulmonary hypertension referral centres (n = 95) and from age and gender matched healthy controls (n = 44). Patients were subsequently monitored throughout a period of five years.ResultsCXCL12 alpha concentrations were elevated in PAH groups compared to controls (P<0.05) and receiver-operating-characteristic analysis showed that plasma CXCL12 alpha concentrations discriminated patients from healthy controls (AUC 0.80, 95% confidence interval 0.73-0.88). Kaplan Meier analysis indicated that elevated plasma CXCL12a concentration was associated with reduced survival (P<0.01). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model showed that elevated CXCL12 alpha independently predicted (P<0.05) earlier death in PAH with a hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of 2.25 (1.01-5.00). In the largest subset by WHO functional class (Class 3, 65% of patients) elevated CXCL12 alpha independently predicted (P<0.05) earlier death, hazard ratio 2.27 (1.05-4.89).ConclusionsOur data show that elevated concentrations of circulating CXCL12 alpha in PAH predicted poorer survival. Furthermore, elevated circulating CXCL12 alpha was an independent risk factor for death that could potentially be included in a prognostic model and guide therapy.