Study identifies ICAM-2 as chimp myocardial fibrosis biomarker

Researchers in the United Kingdom reported a potential new blood-based way to help detect idiopathic myocardial fibrosis, a major cardiac disease in captive chimpanzees. In a new Frontiers in Veterinary Science study, investigators screened 92 cardiovascular proteins, then validated three candidates in a larger cohort of zoo-housed chimpanzees with postmortem-confirmed cardiac phenotypes. Of those markers, ICAM-2 remained significantly elevated in affected animals and, at a proposed cutoff above 1.535 ng/mL, showed 100% specificity and 100% positive predictive value for moderate-to-severe disease in this dataset. The authors say that makes ICAM-2 a promising “rule-in” biomarker, though they also stress that broader validation is still needed before routine clinical adoption. (frontiersin.org)

Why it matters: Idiopathic myocardial fibrosis is a well-recognized, life-threatening problem in chimpanzees in human care, and ante-mortem diagnosis has been difficult because definitive assessment has relied heavily on postmortem findings or imperfect clinical tools. Prior work has shown cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in great apes in zoological settings, and chimpanzee myocardial fibrosis has long been a frequent necropsy finding. For veterinary teams managing aging great apes, a non-invasive serum marker could help identify animals that warrant closer cardiac monitoring, imaging, or management, especially when anesthesia and advanced diagnostics carry practical risk. (frontiersin.org)

What to watch: Watch for follow-up validation in larger chimpanzee cohorts, and for whether ICAM-2 is incorporated into Great Ape Heart Project- or zoo-based cardiac surveillance protocols. (frontiersin.org)