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The following is a summary of “Plasma metabolomic characteristics of atrial fibrillation patients with spontaneous echo contrast,” published in the November 2024 issue of Cardiology by Shi et al.    

Spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) signals a prethrombotic state that can progress to thrombus formation.  

Researchers conducted a prospective study to investigate the metabolomic characteristics associated with SEC in patients with AF.  

They enrolled patients with AF and divided them into non-SEC, low-SEC, and high-SEC groups based on echocardiogram results. Blood samples were analyzed using non-targeted metabolomics techniques, which included data quality control, differential metabolite analysis, component analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway clustering.  

The results showed a clear metabolic difference in patients between SEC and non-SEC. Specifically, 35 and 142 significantly different metabolites were found in venous and atrial plasma, respectively (P<0.05), suggesting more severe metabolic dysregulation in atrial plasma compared to venous blood.  

They concluded that patients with SEC had a distinct metabolic pattern, enhancing the understanding of SEC’s mechanisms. Findings provided insights into therapeutic targets, prevention, treatment, and dietary recommendations for patients with AF having SEC.  

Source: bmccardiovascdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12872-024-04306-y