Gender‐Related Changes of the Epicardial Fat Thickness and Leptin in Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Issue 4 (16th October 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Akilli, Hakan; Kayrak, Mehmet; Bekci, Taha Tahir; Erdogan, Halil İbrahim; Aribas, Alpay; Yildirim, Oguzhan; Taner, Alpaslan; Erer, Murat; Unlu, Ali
• Is Part Of: Echocardiography. Volume 31:Issue 4(2014)
• Page Start: 411
• Page End: 419
• Publication Date: 2013-10-16
• Subjects: Echocardiography -- Periodicals; Echocardiography -- Periodicals; 616.1207543
• DOI: 10.1111/echo.12392
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0742-2822

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="echo12392-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="echo12392-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Epicardial fat thickness (EFT), an indicator of visceral obesity, and leptin are 2 novel markers for studying the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) population. This study aimed to investigate the effects of gender on leptin levels and EFT, and the relation with OSA severity.</p> </sec> <sec id="echo12392-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>A total of 149 patients with OSA (female/male 55/94 and mean age 50.8 ± 9.2 years) and 50 control patients (female/male 24/26 and mean age 48.9 ± 8.8 years) were included in the study. The study population was divided into 4 groups according to apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) as control (AHI <5), the mild OSA (AHI 5–14), the moderate OSA (AHI 15–29), and the severe OSA (AHI ≥30). EFT was obtained from parasternal long‐axis and parasternal short‐axis echocardiographic images.</p> </sec> <sec id="echo12392-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Leptin levels among females were significantly higher than among males (10.5 [7.8] vs. 5.4 [4.5] ng/mL, P = 0.001, respectively). Among women, leptin levels were significantly higher in the severe OSA group compared to the control group (9.8 [9.0] vs. 15.5 [10.1] ng/mL, P = 0.05, respectively). Conversely, no relation was observed between OSA severity and the leptin levels among men. EFT was not significantly different between the 2 genders (P > 0.05). EFT was thicker in the severe OSA group than in the control and mild OSA groups among women, whereas EFT was not changed according to OSA severity among males (P > 0.05).</p> </sec> <sec id="echo12392-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Leptin and EFT may be a valuable parameter in the evaluation of OSA severity in women than in men.</p> </sec> </abstract>