The Echocardiographic Parameters of Systolic Function Are Associated with Specific Metabolomic Fingerprints in Obstructive and Non-Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

The purpose of this study was to assess whether metabolomics, associated with echocardiography, was able to highlight pathophysiological differences between obstructive (OHCM) or non-obstructive (NOHCM) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Thirty-one HCM patients underwent standard and advanced echocardiography; a plasma sample was collected for metabolomic analysis. Results. Patients with OHCM compared with subjects with NOHCM had higher values of 2DLVEF (66.5 & PLUSMN; 3.3% vs. 60.6 & PLUSMN; 1.8%, p < 0.01), S wave (7.6 & PLUSMN; 1.1 vs. 6.3 & PLUSMN; 0.7 cm/s, p < 0.01) and 3D global longitudinal strain (17.2 & PLUSMN; 4.2%, vs. 13.4 & PLUSMN; 1.3%, p < 0.05). A 2-group PLS-Discriminant Analysis was performed to verify whether the two HCM groups differed also based on the metabolic fingerprint. A clear clustering was shown (ANOVA p = 0.014). The most discriminating metabolites resulted as follows: in the NOHCM Group, there were higher levels of threitol, aminomalonic acid, and sucrose, while the OHCM Group presented higher levels of amino acids, in particular those branched chains, of intermediates of glycolysis (lactate) and the Krebs cycle (fumarate, succinate, citrate), of fatty acids (arachidonic acid, palmitoleic acid), of ketone bodies (2-OH-butyrate). Our data point out a different systolic function related to a specific metabolic activity in the two HCM phenotypic forms, with specific metabolites associated with better contractility in OHCM.