## 3 Results
### Biomarker Concentrations and Correlation Analysis  
Except for GDF-15 in patients with HF, all investigated biomarkers were significantly elevated in patients with HF, STEMI and sepsis, when compared to the respective values of \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt}} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Total Cohort (n= 311)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Hear Failure (n= 123)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**STEMI (n= 60)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Sepsis (n= 53)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Control (n= 75)**} & \multicolumn{1}{p{113.8 pt}}{_p-Value**} \\ \hline
**Age (years; median (IQR))** & 61 (53–71) * & 60 (51–69) * & 60 (54–71) * & 62 (50–75) * & 65 (54–71) * & 0.372 \\ \hline
**Height (m; median (IQR))** & 1.73 (1.64–1.80) * & 1.75 (1.68–1.80) * & 1.73 (1.64–1.78) * & 1.74 (1.67–1.80) * & 1.68 (1.61–1.77) * & 0.001 \\ \hline
**Weight (kg median (IQR))** & 80.5 (70.0–94.0) * & 83.0 (74.5–98.5) * & 80.0 (74.0–94.5) * & 80.0 (63.5–90.0) * & 76.5 (66.5–90.0) * & 0.009 \\ \hline
**BMI (kg/m\({}^{2}\) median (IQR))** & 27.6 (24.3–31.0) * & 28.2 (24.8–31.6) * & 28.0 (24.7–31.2) * & 26.2 (21.8–29.4) * & 27.4 (23.8–30.7) * & 0.030 \\ \hline
**EF (\%; median (IQR))** & 47 (33–63) * & 36 (28–45) * & 55 (46–68) * & n.a. & 67 (63–74) * & \textless{}0.001 \\ \hline
**CRP (mg/L; median (IQR))** & 61.1 (26.0–150.0) * & 3.1 (0.0–7.6) * & 7.9 (2.5–11.6) * & 235.9 (93.0–336.6) * & 3.9 (3.2–5.4) * & \textless{}0.0001 \\ \hline
**Creatinine (μmol/L; median (IQR))** & 82.0 (67.0–113.5) * & 90.0 (79.0–125.0) * & 68.5 (61.8–81.8) * & 148.0 (107.3–208.3) * & 70.5 (64.0–83.5) * & \textless{}0.0001 \\ \hline
**Urea (mmol/L; median (IQR))** & 6.4 (4.9–9.8) * & 6.8 (5.3–9.8) * & 5.1 (4.1–6.4) * & 14.5 (9.0–22.0) * & 5.4 (4.5–6.7) * & \textless{}0.0001 \\ \hline
**Gender (% male, (n))** & 65.2 (193) * & 80.7 (88) * & 71.2 (42) * & 69.8 (37) * & 34.7 (26) * & \textless{}0.0001 \\ \hline
**Diabetes (\%, (n))** & 29.1 (83) * & 37.0 (40) * & 29.1 (16) * & 29.2 (14) * & 17.6 (13) * & 0.045 \\ \hline
**Hypertension (\%, (n))** & 68.6 (199) * & 59.3 (64) * & 92.7 (51) * & 39.6 (21) * & 85.1 (63) * & \textless{}0.0001 \\ \hline
**Chronic kidney disease (\%, (n))** & 11.3 (31) * & 20.0 (19) * & 5.3 (3) * & 9.4 (5) * & 5.7 (4) * & 0.008 \\ \hline
**Smoking (\%, (n))** & 44.9 (102) * & 45.4 (49) * & 63.5 (33) * & n.a. & 29.9 (20) * & 0.001 \\ \hline
**Dyslipidemia (\%, (n))** & 63.9 (129) * & 71.3 (77) * & 62.5 (25) * & n.a. & 50.0 (27) * & 0.029 \\ \hline
**Overweight (\%, (n))** & 44.1 (104) * & 38.0 (41) * & 54.5 (30) * & n.a. & 45.2 (33) * & 0.127 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* n = \(\geq\)90% of total n of this group;
* n = \(\geq\)80% and <90% than total n of this group;
* n = \(\geq\)50% and <80% than total n of this group;
* n = \(<\)50% than total n of this group.
* n = \(<\)30% than total n of this group.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Baseline characteristics of the respective study cohorts. Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index, EF = ejection fraction, CRP = C-reactive protein, IQR = interquartile range. the controls (see Figure 1 and Table 2). Of the three investigated disease entities, patients with sepsis had the highest plasma concentrations regarding all investigated biomarkers (sST2: 7.4-fold, suPAR: 3.4-fold, GDF-15: 6.5-fold and H-FABP: 15.3-fold increased plasma levels, \(p<0.001\)), which were distinctively higher than in patients with cardiovascular disease entities (sST2, suPAR, GDF-15: \(p<0.001\); H-FABP: compared to HF \(p<0.001\), see Figure 1 and Table 2). Moreover, in patients with sepsis, serum concentrations of sST2 and suPAR were significantly elevated in patients with HF and STEMI when compared to controls (sST2: HF: 1.6-fold increase and STEMI: 2.5-fold increase, \(p<0.001\); suPAR: HF: 1.4-fold increase, \(p<0.001\) and STEMI: 1.4-fold increase, \(p<0.01\)). Additionally, plasma levels of GDF-15 and H-FABP were significantly elevated in patients with STEMI (GDF-15: 1.6-fold increase, H-FABP: 6.4-fold increase, \(p<0.001\)).