Relaxin in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Relationship with Blood Pressure and Inflammatory Mediators

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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Relaxin in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Relationship with Blood Pressure and Inflammatory Mediators

Anna Bonanno Anna Lo Bue Oreste Marrone Loredana Riccobono Giuseppe Insalaco Maria R. Bonsignore Adriana Salvaggio

subject

Adult Male Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine medicine.medical_specialty Ambulatory blood pressure Polysomnography Blood Pressure Polysomnography Settore MED/10 - Malattie Dell'Apparato Respiratorio 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Relaxin · Obstructive sleep apnea · Metalloproteinase · Vascular endothelial growth factor Interquartile range Internal medicine Respiratory disturbance index medicine Humans Hypoxia Inflammation Sleep Apnea Obstructive Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 medicine.diagnostic_test business.industry Relaxin Sleep apnea Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases Intermittent hypoxia Middle Aged medicine.disease Matrix Metalloproteinases Obstructive sleep apnea Endocrinology Blood pressure Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 030228 respiratory system Hypertension Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Inflammation Mediators business

description

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with nocturnal intermittent hypoxia, which may be responsible for increased circulating levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and inflammatory mediators, such as metalloproteinases (MMPs), and which contributes to the pathogenesis of systemic hypertension. Why some OSA patients remain normotensive is poorly understood. Relaxin-2, a pregnancy hormone, may sometimes circulate in men and could increase in hypoxic conditions. It exerts a vasodilatory activity and can modulate the release of molecules, such as MMPs and VEGF. Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore if circulating relaxin-2 in male OSA subjects may be related to OSA severity, to circulating levels of MMPs, of their inhibitors (tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases; TIMPs), and of VEGF, and if it may protect from hypertension. Patients andMethods: Fifty untreated male subjects with suspected OSA were recruited. After nocturnal polysomnography, a morning venous blood sample was withdrawn. Then, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring was performed. Results: The respiratory disturbance index in the sample was 30.4 [interquartile range (IQR) 15.6-55.2]. Relaxin-2 was detectable in 20 subjects. These subjects did not differ in OSA severity or diurnal and nocturnal BP from subjects with undetectable relaxin-2, but they showed lower TIMP-1 (126.8 ± 29.1 vs. 156.9 ± 41.7 pg/ml, respectively; p = 0.007) and a marginally higher MMP-9/TIMP-1 molar ratio [0.58 (IQR 0.23-1.35) vs. 0.25 (IQR 0.15-0.56); p = 0.052]. Conclusions: Relaxin-2 in male subjects was not related to OSA severity, but it was associated with lower TIMP-1. As it was often undetectable, even when BP values were normal, it is unlikely that it plays a role as a major factor protecting from hypertension in OSA.

year	journal	country	edition	language
2015-08-03	Respiration

https://doi.org/10.1159/000443182