Abstract
Objective: Non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF), an arrhythmia commonly detected in health check-ups conducted under the national Japanese health check system, can cause cardiogenic cerebral infarction. However, paroxysmal AF (PAF) is not detectable during regular check-ups and cannot be prevented by current anticoagulant therapy. In this study, we performed a new blood test to screen for anti-myocardial autoantibodies (Abs), and examined its efficacy in predicting the occurrence of AF.
Methods: We measured 4 types of anti-myocardial Abs in 300 patients: 100 control patients who had no valvular heart disease and normal systolic function, 100 coronary artery disease patients who had old myocardial infarction, and 100 dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. They had the following cardiac rhythms: normal sinus rhythm (100), paroxysmal AF (100), and persistent AF (100).
Results: The clinical background characteristics of the different Abs were as follows: myosin Abs were present in older patients with idiopathic PAF and AF, Na-K-ATPase Abs in PAF patients with any type of heart failure, beta1 receptor Abs in idiopathic PAF patients of the “day and “night” type, and M2 receptor Abs in idiopathic PAF patients of the “night” type. The results also suggested links between arrhythmogenic Abs such as Na-K-ATPase and M2 receptor Abs and cardiac hypertrophy.
Conclusion: In a limited number of patients, links between Abs and AF occurrence were evident. Further studies are required to determine whether our new blood test can detect potential AF patients in a health check-up.
