Circulating levels of growth differentiation factor-15 and its genetic variants -3148C>G (rs4808793) in pediatric cardiac patients

doi:10.5409/wjcp.v15.i2.117283

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Jun 9, 2026 (publication date) through May 16, 2026

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World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics

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2219-2808

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Case Control Study

Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Clin Pediatr. Jun 9, 2026; 15(2): 117283
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v15.i2.117283

Circulating levels of growth differentiation factor-15 and its genetic variants -3148C>G (rs4808793) in pediatric cardiac patients

Eman Ahmed Abd-Elmawgood, Mohammed H Hassan, Khaled Abdalla Abd-Elbaseer, Mona Hashem Ibrahem, Khaled Mohammed Hassan Yousef, Ali Helmi Bakri

Eman Ahmed Abd-Elmawgood, Khaled Abdalla Abd-Elbaseer, Mona Hashem Ibrahem, Ali Helmi Bakri, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Qena University, Qena 83523, Egypt

Mohammed H Hassan, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Qena University, Qena 83523, Egypt

Mohammed H Hassan, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia

Khaled Mohammed Hassan Yousef, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Qena University, Qena 83523, Egypt

Co-first authors: Eman Ahmed Abd-Elmawgood and Mohammed H Hassan.

Author contributions: Abd-Elbaseer KA, Abd-Elmawgood EA, Hassan MH, Yousef KMH, and Bakri AH conceived and designed the project; Abd-Elmawgood EA, Hassan MH, Abd-Elbaseer KA, Ibrahem MH, Yousef KMH, and Bakri AH collected data, analyzed, and interpreted the data; Abd-Elmawgood EA and Hassan MH drafted the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Qena University, Qena, Egypt (No. SVU-MED-PED025-1-21-9-239).

Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was taken from the included participants or their caregivers for participation in the study and publication.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.

Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, after obtaining the permission of our institute.

Corresponding author: Mohammed H Hassan, MD, Professor, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Qena University, Elsafwa School Street, Qena 83523, Egypt. mohammedhosnyhassaan@yahoo.com

Received: December 4, 2025
Revised: December 22, 2025
Accepted: February 3, 2026
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 161 Days and 1.6 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is a stress-responsive cytokine. Though less extensively studied in children than in adults, recent evidence highlights the potential value of GDF-15 in pediatric cardiology.

AIM

To assess the serum GDF-15 levels and the genetic profile of GDF-15 rs4808793 among children with cardiac diseases.

METHODS

This case-control study included 100 pediatric cardiac patients and 50 healthy controls. GDF-15 rs4808793 (-3148C>G) single-nucleotide polymorphism was tested via restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction technique, and serum GDF-15 was measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique.

RESULTS

Of the 69 children with various types of congenital heart diseases (CHD), 14 patients had rheumatic heart disease, and 17 had cardiomyopathy. About 50% of patients had heart failure. Significantly higher mean serum GDF-15 among patients compared to the controls, P < 0.001. Heart failure patients had significantly higher serum GDF-15 than those who didn’t, P < 0.001. CC-genotype and C-allele of rs4808793 were significantly more frequent among cardiac patients compared to the controls (P = 0.002). C-allele of rs4808793 was associated with an increased CHD risk (odds ratio = 2.812, 95% confidence interval: 1.648-4.799).

CONCLUSION

GDF-15 is a promising biomarker in predicting congenital heart disease and heart failure in children. The genetic variants of GDF-15 (rs4808793) were significantly associated with CHD risk.

Keywords: Growth differentiation factor 15 rs4808793; Pediatric cardiology; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Congenital heart diseases

Core Tip: Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is increasingly recognized as a valuable biomarker and potential genetic contributor in pediatric cardiac disorders. Significantly elevated serum GDF-15 levels are observed in children with heart failure, reflecting disease severity and progression. Additionally, the higher prevalence of the C-allele of the GDF-15 rs4808793 polymorphism among patients with congenital heart disease supports a genetic susceptibility component. Together, these findings highlight the potential role of GDF-15 in development and progression of pediatric cardiovascular diseases.