GDF15 and heart failure: Higher levels of circulating GDF-15 have been linked to an increased risk for several adverse outcomes, including a recent study showing an association with incident type 2 diabetes (27), deteriorating microalbuminuria (28), progression of albuminuria in persons with type 2 diabetes (28), kidney function decline and cardiovascular risk in persons with type 1 diabetes (29), early death in patients undergoing haemodialysis (30), as well as incident heart failure and cardiovascular events in the general population (31).