title: Gender-related changes of the epicardial fat thickness and leptin in obstructive sleep apnea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Leptin and EFT may be a valuable parameter in the evaluation of OSA severity in women than in men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akilli
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kayrak
authors.forename: Taha Tahir
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Bekci
authors.forename: Halil İbrahim
authors.initials: Hİ
authors.lastname: Erdogan
authors.forename: Alpay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aribas
authors.forename: Oguzhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Alpaslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taner
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erer
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Unlu
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D010496:Pericardium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020738:Leptin
keywords: epicardial fat; gender; leptin; obstructive sleep apnea