Growth differentiation factor 15: A novel biomarker with high clinical potential.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of preclinical and clinical literature with no systematic review methodology.
PubMed 31076013 · doi:10.1080/10408363.2019.1615034
What was done
Narrative review synthesizing preclinical and clinical literature on growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), a transforming growth factor-β family member. The authors examine its biological roles in prenatal development, inflammation, metabolic regulation, and tissue repair, while focusing on clinical data evaluating circulating GDF-15 as a biomarker for cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, liver disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, sepsis, cancer, and all-cause mortality.
What was found
The abstract provides no numerical data, effect sizes, reference ranges, or diagnostic metrics. It reports qualitatively that serum GDF-15 acts as a hormone regulating lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, reflects a systemic stress response, and is predictive of all-cause mortality across multiple disease states.
Why it matters
GDF-15 serves as a multi-system biomarker reflecting integrated inflammatory, metabolic, and tissue-injury pathways across common chronic and acute diseases.
Limits
This is a narrative review that reports no systematic search strategy, study count, or pooled quantitative effect sizes in the abstract. Elevated GDF-15 occurs across numerous distinct organ pathologies, which limits its disease-specific diagnostic specificity when interpreted without broader clinical context.
Cited by
- supports Circulating GDF15 levels are elevated in cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.