Is serum fibroblast growth factor 21 associated with the severity or presence of coronary artery disease?

Background: Recent studies have shown that increased circulating concentrations of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) are associated with obesity, metabolic disorder, and atherosclerosis. However the relationship between FGF21 and coronary artery disease (CAD) is controversial This study was planned to investigate the role of FGF21 in CAD development and CAD severity. Methods: Seventy-eight patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) (lesion positive) and 40 control patients (lesion negative) with similar cardiovascular risk factors were included in the study. Serum FGF21 levels were measured by ELISA method. CAD severity was evaluated by using SYNTAX and GENSINI risk scores. Results: FGF21 concentrations were found significantly higher in the SAP group than in the control group. [101.18 ± 141.62 vs. 47.93 ± 58.74 pg/mL; p = 0.03], no correlation was found between the SYNTAX (r = 0.146 and p = 0.134) and GENSINI (r = 0.211 and p = 0.084) scores with serum FGF21 levels. There was a negative relationship between serum FGF21 and serum HDL-C levels in correlation analysis (r = - 0.272; p = 0.026). Conclusions: The serum FGF21 levels are different between SAP and control patients. FGF21 is a marker for CAD diagnosis, but not for the evaluation of CAD severity.

Gamma oscillations predict treatment response to aripiprazole in bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Treatment of Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a challenging issue. Aripiprazole monotherapy is a recommended option for the treatment of mania in BD. The electrophysiological markers of treatment response to aripiprazole could be potentially identified by quantitative Electroencephalography (qEEG). METHODS: Twenty-four patients with BD were analysed retrospectively. Based on the percentage reduction in Young Mania Rating Scale, they were classified as responders (N = 14) and non-responders (N = 10) to aripiprazole monotherapy. Their resting-state qEEG recordings were examined. Spectral power across all frequency bands were calculated. Absolute powers for all frequency bands were compared between these groups. RESULTS: Independent sample Mann-Whitney U test revealed that patients who did not respond to aripiprazole had greater gamma power than aripiprazole treatment responders. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the present findings, it can be proposed that excess in gamma power could be the electrophysiological biomarkers of unresponsiveness to aripiprazole treatment in BD.

Quantitative EEG Findings in Patients With Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures.

Objective. Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), is one of the clinical manifestations of conversion disorder that epileptiform discharges do not accompany. Factors capable of increasing susceptibility to these seizures have not been adequately investigated yet. This study aims to investigate the quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) findings for PNES by evaluating the resting EEG spectral power changes during the periods between seizures. Methods. Thirty-nine patients (29 females, 10 males) diagnosed with PNES (group 1) and 47 patients (23 females, 24 males) without any psychiatric diagnosis (group 2) were included in the study. The patients underwent a psychiatric examination at their first visit, were diagnosed and their EEGs were recorded. Using fast Fourier transformation (FFT), spectral power analysis was calculated for delta (0.5-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta (15-30 Hz), high-beta (25-30 Hz), gamma-1 (31-40 Hz), gamma-2 (41-50 Hz), and gamma (30-80 Hz) frequency bands. Results. Six separate EEG band power, namely (C3-high beta, C3-gamma, C3-gamma-1, C3-gamma-2, P3-gamma, P3 gamma-1), were found to be higher in the patients diagnosed with PNES than in the control group. Conclusion. Our findings show that PNES correlate with high-frequency oscillations on central motor and somatosensory cortices.

Serum omentin-1 levels in hypertensive patients.

Hypertension (HT) is a disease that can cause death due to multiple target organ damage and eventually related vascular system damage. High blood pressure is known increased inflammatory activity and to cause endothelial dysfunction has been showed in HT patients. Omentin-1 is a glucoprotein of the adiponectin family released from visceral adipose tissue, endothelial cells, and visceral fat stromal-vascular cells. It has anti-inflammatory effect and circulating omentin-1 concentration correlates negatively with waist circumference, insulin resistance, and body-mass index. Serum omentin-1 is used as a biomarker of coronary artery disease, obesity, cancer, metabolic syndrome, inflammatorydisease, atherosclerosis, and diabetes mellitus. The aim of our study is to investigate circulating omentin-1 levels in HT patients compared to healthy normotensive controls. Patients diagnosed with new essential HT (n = 61) and healthy normotensive individuals (n = 60) were enrolled in this study. The HT group was separated into two subgroups. There were 30 patients in stage 2 HT group and 31 patients in stage 1 HT group. Omentin-1 levels were significantly lower both in stage 1 and 2 HT subgroup as compared with the normotensive controls (72.19 ± 54.33 ng/ml for stage 1 HT subgroup; 62.45 ± 47.01 ng/ml for stage 2 HT subgroup; and, 147.84 ± 58.55 ng/ml for healthy normotensive controls; overall P < 0.001). The present study demonstrated that serum Omentin-1 levels decreased in patients with HT compared with normotensive controls. These lower concentrations may be attributed to a combined outcome of endothelial dysfunction, renal injury, and inflammation in the setting of hypertension.

Psychiatry to dermatology; panic disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Anxiety is commonly observed together with skin diseases and can aggravate them, while skin diseases can increase anxiety. The relationship of skin diseases observed in panic disorder with quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) findings has not been investigated yet. The aim of this study is to compare the absolute alpha and delta power of panic disorder patients with and without skin disease. METHODS: 246 panic disorder patients, 19 of whom had skin disease and 227 of whom did not have skin disease, were included in the study. Panic disorder severity scale (PDSS) scores of patients were recorded, and QEEG recording was performed. Absolute alpha and delta power and PDSS scores were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: It was found that the absolute delta power in the left hemisphere was lower and PDSS scores were higher in the patients with skin diseases compared to the control group. In the patients with skin disease, decreased delta power in the left hemisphere may cause impairment in the processing of positive emotions and may cause trait anxiety. CONCLUSION: Trait anxiety may increase susceptibility to skin diseases by disrupting cutaneous homeostasis resulting from the prolonged sympathetic nervous system activation.