Heart Fatty Acid Binding Protein (H-FABP) as a Diagnostic Biomarker in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Aims and objectives: Diagnosis of myocardial ischaemia at an early stage in the emergency department is often difficult. A recently proposed biomarker, heart fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) has been found to appear in the circulation superior to that of cardiac troponins in the early hours of acute coronary syndrome. We proposed to evaluate the levels of H-FABP and ascertain its utility as an early biomarker for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods and results: The present study was carried out in 485 subjects, of whom 297 were diagnosed as patients with ACS, 89 were diagnosed as non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) and 99 people served as healthy controls. H-FABP levels were measured in comparison with standard markers such as troponin I and CK-MB in all subjects enrolled in the study. The levels of H-FABP were significantly raised in patients when compared to controls and NCCP (P < 0.001). Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve (ROC) analysis showed H-FABP to be a good discriminator between patients with ischaemic heart disease and patients without ischaemic heart disease. The area under the curve was found to be 0.965 with 95% CI (0.945-0.979). The cut-off value above which H-FABP can be considered positive was found to be 17.7 ng/ml. Conclusion: H-FABP is a promising biomarker for the early detection of patients with acute coronary syndrome. (Heart, Lung and Circulation 2010;19:660-664) (C) 2010 Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.