Predicting Value of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 and Its Correlations With Atrial Fibrillation

AIMS Despite several clinical risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF), some newly identified biomarkers may also potentially serve as risk factors for AF. However, none of these factors so far have been adopted in clinical practice. Recently, a number of studies with an attempt to identify the role of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) in AF have obtained ambiguous results. We try to identify the predicting role of GDF-15 in AF and AF-related complications with meta-analysis or systematic analysis. METHODS AND RESULTS We enrolled 10 studies, looking at the predicting role of GDF-15 in non-valvular AF using meta-analysis, summarized its role in AF-related major complications, and discussed whether it was dependable to forecast postoperative AF. It turned out that GDF-15 is an independent factor to predict occurrence of AF, while it remains obscure to directly demonstrate its relationship with postoperative AF. For AF patients on anti-platelet treatment, GDF-15 plays a critical role in predicting major bleeding, cardiovascular death and overall death, and improves the current predicting model. CONCLUSIONS Circulating GDF-15 greatly associates with AF and AF-related complications. It should be applied clinically.