MOTS-c Levels Linked to Heart Attack Damage in Patients

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack, involves severe damage to heart muscle due to blocked blood flow, often followed by ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), which occurs when blood flow is restored to ischemic tissue and can paradoxically worsen cardiac damage. IRI contributes significantly to adverse outcomes post-AMI. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum levels of the mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c and the severity of IRI in patients experiencing AMI.

The study revealed a significant inverse correlation between serum MOTS-c levels and the severity of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Patients with higher circulating MOTS-c levels consistently exhibited lower levels of cardiac injury markers and better cardiac function. Specifically, MOTS-c levels were significantly lower in patients diagnosed with severe IRI compared to those with mild IRI (p<0.001). Furthermore, MOTS-c levels demonstrated a high sensitivity of 0.890 (with a cutoff value of 326.65 [95% CI, 253.41-631.84]; and an area under the curve of 0.739 [95% CI, 0.647-0.832], P<0.001) in predicting the occurrence of unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction in the general population. This suggests MOTS-c could serve as a valuable biomarker for both predicting cardiac events and assessing IRI severity.