Description
Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a member of the TGFβ superfamily whose expression is increased in response to cellular stress and disease as well as by metformin. Identified as a new heart-derived endocrine hormone that regulates body growth, GDF15 has a local cardioprotective role, presumably due to its autocrine/paracrine properties: antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic. GDF15 expression is highly induced in cardiomyocytes after ischemia/reperfusion and in the heart within hours after myocardial infarction (MI). GDF15 may be a predictive biomarker of adverse cardiac events. Available evidence also suggests that a substantial amount of GDF15 is secreted in various human cancers, such as ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer, among others