The relationship between heart type fatty acid binding protein levels and epicardial fatty thickness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrom

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between carotid artery intima-media thickness, epicardial fat thickness measurement and the levels of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (hFABP) in patients with OSAS. MATERİALS AND METHODS Ninety nine newly diagnosed OSAS patients and fifty non-OSAS control subjects were enrolled in this study.In both groups, demographic data such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI) were recorded and carotid intima-media thickness (CMIT) and epicardial fat thickness (EFT) were measured. hFABP levels were determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method according to the manufacturer's protocols. RESULTS Patients with OSAS 67% male, 33% female gender is determined. The mean age of control group was 43.3 years and group of OSAS was 47.9 years (p=0.026). In OSAS group; 38 mild OSAS (38.38%), 23 moderate OSAS (23.23%) and 38 severe OSAS (38.38%) patients were identified. In OSAS patients, average of apnea hypopnea index (AHI) was 29.83 units / hour. A positive correlation was observed between BMI with EFT and CMIT (p<0.05). hFABP levels in OSAS group average was 2.65±2.1 ng/ml and in control group average was 1.62±0.90 ng/ml and this was statistically significant (p=0.002). CMIT, the average in OSAS patients was 0.67±23 mm while in control group average was 0.6±0.21 mm (p>0.05). EFT, in the control group average was 5.3±2.04 mm, while the average was 4.3 ±1.79 mm in the OSAS group (p=0.019). The correlation was observed between the CMIT and EFT (p<0.001) CONCLUSION This study suggests EFT and hFABP can be used as a predictive value in determining cardiovascular risk in OSAS patients. Key words: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, Heart Type Fatty Acid Binding Protein, Intima-media thickness, Epicardial fat thickness