Objectives: Heart failure (HF) is one of the main causes of cardiovascular mortality and mobidity today. Despite all the advances in the diagnosis and treatment of HF, mortality and morbidity rates could not be reduced to the desired levels. Therefore, it is important to identify new prognostic factors in these patients. Recent studies show that micronutrient dyshomeostasis may play a role in the pathophysiology of HF. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and Cu / Zn ratio and N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels in male patients followed with ischemic HF. Methods: 57 male patients who were followed up in the cardiology outpatient clinic with a diagnosis of compensated chronic HF of ischemic origin were divided into two groups as high and low according to the NT-proBNP level, whose prognostic limit value was reported as 1000 ng / L. The control group was composed of 24 patients with similar demographic characteristics, except for the presence of HF. Results: In the high nt-proBNP group, the serum Cu mean level was low compared to the nt-proBNP group (p <0.001) and the control group (p <0.001). Serum Zn mean level was statistically significantly lower in the high NT-proBNP group than in the low nt-proBNP group (p <0.001) and control groups (p = 0.005). In addition, nt-proBNP group with high median Cu / Zn ratio was statistically significantly higher than low NT-proBNP (p = 0.004) and control groups (p <0.001) (p <0.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the low NT-proBNP group and the control group in terms of serum mean Cu level (p = 1,000), serum mean Zn level (p = 0.343) and median Cu / Zn ratio (p = 0.636). Conclusion: There is a statistically significant relationship between NT-proBNP level, whose elevated levels are considered to be associated with poor prognosis in patients with ischemic origin, increased serum Cu level and Cu / Zn ratio and negative in serum Zn level. In these patients, large-volume prospective studies are needed to investigate the relationship between Cu chelation and Zn supportive therapy with nt-proBNP level and mortality rates. Keywords: Copper, Zinc, Ischemic heart failure, NT-proBNP, Mortality
Corresponding Author: Ekrem Aksu