Iron transporting protein may help early diagnosis of heart disease, says study

Exploring molecular and cellular processes related to serotransferrin may help shed light on how CAD develops and identify new targets for treatment, the team said.

“Of the total 197 differentially expressed proteins, serotransferrin (TF), an iron transporter, showed downregulation in samples from CAD patients compared to healthy,” the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Acta Cardiologica. Downregulation means lower than normal levels

The study, involving 50 CAD patients and 40 healthy people, also showed an increased level of the cardiac marker ‘troponin I’ among those affected by the heart disorder, demonstrating an inverse relationship with serotransferrin levels.

Troponin I is a specialised protein present in heart muscle cells, a damage or injury to which causes the protein to leak and enter the bloodstream.

“TF (serotransferrin) protein was significantly associated with CAD progression and inversely correlated with cTnI (troponin I), suggesting it (serotransferrin) could be a potential therapeutic target pending further molecular and clinical investigation,” the authors said.

Longitudinal studies would be required to estimate the duration in years before which serotransferrin could help identify CAD, explained Biswas, former distinguished chief scientist and professor at CSIR-IGIB’s department of integrative and functional biology.

The study linked reduced levels of serotransferrin with the inflammatory environment created due to damage in the inner lining of arteries, which leads to an immune response against the accumulated fatty deposits.

According to Biswas, worsening ischaemia — local anaemia due to a reduced blood flow caused by narrowed or blocked vessels — and tissue injury can increase troponin I, whereas inflammatory and metabolic stress may suppress serotransferrin expression or availability in CAD.

Further, levels of serotransferrin can reflect iron status in an individual.

“In standard iron studies, transferrin saturation below 20 per cent is commonly taken as evidence of iron deficiency, meaning less than 20 per cent of transferrin’s binding sites are occupied by iron,” Biswas said.