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Researchers Identify Potential Prenatal Biomarkers of Congenital Heart Diseases

Researchers Identify Potential Prenatal Biomarkers of Congenital Heart Diseases 1024 637 Katelyn Scott
Heart with HLHS compared to typically developed heart

In a research letter published in Circulation Research, researchers at Nationwide Children’s describe a potential biomarker that would identify the presence of SVHD in a fetus based on a maternal blood test. Single ventricle heart diseases (SVHDs), the most severe type of congenital heart disease require immediate treatment after birth. A growing number of fetal therapies make the benefits of early diagnosis even more important.

The test detected elevated cell-free miRNAs in the blood of people carrying a fetus that has single ventricle heart disease. These cell-free miRNAs could eventually be developed as noninvasive biomarkers to detect single ventricle heart diseases sooner prenatally.

Approximately 1,000 children are born each year with a single ventricle heart defect, which occurs when one lower chamber of the heart is underdeveloped, too small or missing a valve. While children with SVHDs can survive, their quality of life is impacted due to having only one functional ventricle in their heart.

Mingtao Zhao, DVM, PhD, principal investigator in the Center for Cardiovascular
Research in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

“This technology is in an early phase; preclinical studies and additional clinical validation are needed, but we are encouraged by what this could mean for the evolution of detecting and managing single ventricle heart diseases in children,” says Mingtao Zhao, DVM, PhD, senior author of the study and a principal investigator in the Center for Cardiovascular Research at Nationwide Children’s. He is also an associate professor at The Ohio State University. “This is a step toward further improved outcomes for newborns with congenital heart diseases.”

The current standard of prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease in infants occurs at the five-month mark of pregnancy, via ultrasound, when the disease is advanced enough to be visually identified. This process relies on imaging technology and equipment which increase both health care cost and the risk of health care inequity.

Detecting congenital heart diseases in children sooner prenatally would not only give physicians more time to plan treatment but also lessen the cost burden on families and allow them to explore earlier therapeutic options that could improve survival rates and outcomes for newborns with life-threatening heart conditions.

Pediatric cardiologists Vidu Garg, MD, and Karen Texter, MD, in The Heart Center at Nationwide Children’s played significant roles in recruiting patients for this study. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Additional Ventures, American Heart Association, and the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

 

Reference:

Alonzo M, Xu Z, Yu Y, Ye S, Wang C, Wang J, McNutt M, Bering J, Ma Q, Texter K, Garg V, Zhao M-T. Cell-Free RNA Signatures in Maternal Blood with Fetal Congenital Heart Disease. Circulation Research. 2024;135(10):1021-1024.

Image credits: Nationwide Children’s

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