PhD defence E. (Elke) Bouwens

Additional strategies are needed to decrease the chronic disease burden of cardiovascular disease. Blood biomarkers may aid in identifying patients at risk for progression of disease or adverse disease outcome. In this thesis, we found temporal patterns of a multitude of biomarkers of cardiac remodelling, cell adhesion, oxidative stress, and fibrinolysis, as well as cytokines and cytokine receptors and macrophage- and neutrophil-related molecules, were associated with adverse disease outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure. Specifically, these biomarkers increased before the occurrence of an adverse event, indicating their promising role in personalised risk assessment. These findings highlight the importance of taking into account repeated measurements of biomarkers. Further studies that measure absolute biomarker concentrations repeatedly in larger cohorts are needed to confirm and extend these findings and to elucidate the pathophysiological role of these biomarkers in chronic heart failure.
The second part of this thesis investigates several aspects of vascular disease with emphasis on novel biomarkers and disease outcome in current clinical practice. The early results of our BIOMArCS-AAA study on biomarkers in patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm suggest associations between several biomarkers and abdominal aortic aneurysm volume. Further analyses are warranted to establish whether temporal patterns of circulating biomarkers are associated with changes in aneurysm volume, and whether these markers add value to risk assessment. Finally, in order to ultimately install a timely and personalised surveillance schedule, it is of utmost importance to take into account measures of health impact, such as quality of life, in biomarker research.

The PhD defences will not take place publicly in the usual way. A live stream link has been provided to candidate. The ceremony will begin exactly at 13:00.