Heart-type Fatty Acid Binding Protein (H-FABP)

Heart fatty acid binding protein (hFABP) is a novel small cytosolic protein that is abundant in the heart. It is highly cardiac-specific, but is also expressed at low concentrations in tissues outside the heart. After myocardial ischemic damage, hFABP can be detected in the blood as early as 1-3 h after onset of chest pain, with peak values reached at 6-8 h and plasma levels returning to normal within 24-30 h.

The intracellular fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) belongs to a multigene family.  They form 14-15 kDa proteins and are thought to participate in the uptake, intracellular metabolism and/or transport of long-chain fatty acids. Fatty acid-binding protein 3 gene contains four exons and its function is to arrest growth of mammary epithelial cells.