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World J Clin Pediatr. Jun 9, 2026; 15(2): 117283
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v15.i2.117283
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, 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
Revised: December 22, 2025
Accepted: February 3, 2026
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 161 Days and 1.6 Hours
Core Tip
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.