Background and ObjectivesThe recently discovered myokine irisin has a proposed role in adipose tissue metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum irisin level and the coronary artery severity in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD).Subjects and MethodsSixty-three patients who underwent coronary angiography (CA) diagnosed with stable CAD and twenty-six patients with normal coronary artery (NCA) were enrolled in the study. Stable CAD patients were divided into two groups as high synergy between percutaneous coronary intervention with taxus and cardiac surgery (SYNTAX) score (≥23) and lower SYNTAX score (<23). Serum irisin level measurement was carried out using human irisin colorimetric enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) commercial kit (AG-45A-0046EK-KI01, Adipogen, San Diego, CA, USA) as recommended by the manufacturer's protocol.ResultsThe patients with stable CAD with a higher SYNTAX score (score ≥23) had significantly lower serum irisin levels (127.91±55.38 ng/mL), as compared the patients with a low SYNTAX score (score <23) (224.69±92.99 ng/mL) and control group (299.54±123.20 ng/mL). Irisin levels showed significant differences between all groups (p<0.001).ConclusionSerum irisin level is an independent predictor of coronary artery severity in patients with stable CAD.

Endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 (endocan) is an immunoinflammatory marker linked to endothelial activation and dysfunction. We investigated the relationship between obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), microvascular angina (MVA), and plasma levels of endocan. We included 53 healthy individuals as controls, 40 MVA patients, and 120 patients with obstructive CAD. The severity of CAD was assessed by the Gensini and SYNergy between percutaneous coronary intervention with TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) scores. Endocan levels were 382.7 (313.8-470.2) pg/mL in patients with obstructive CAD; 324.3 (277.1-460.7) pg/mL in MVA group, and 268.0 (226.4-336.5) pg/mL (P < .001) in controls. Endocan levels in obstructive CAD and MVA groups were similar but both were significantly higher than for the control group (P < .001 and P = .002, respectively). In subgroup analysis, similar to the hypertensive subgroup results, endocan was still an independent predictor of presence of obstructive CAD in normotensives (odds ratio = 1.005, 95% confidence interval = 1.001-1.010, P = .024). There was also an independent positive correlation between endocan levels and SYNTAX score both in the hypertensives (β = 0.414, t = 3.21, P = .002) and in the normotensives (β = .301, t = 2.23, P = .031). In conclusion, endocan could be a common predictor of the endothelium-dependent inflammatory processes, rather than related with specific risk factors.

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Objective:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, inflammatory, and autoimmune connective tissue disease. One of the leading causes of mortality among SLE patients is pulmonary hypertension. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between echocardiographic findings, including the pulmonary pulse transit time and pulmonary hypertension parameters, in SLE patients.Methods:Thirty SLE patients (aged 39.9±11 years, 28 females) as the study group and 34 age-and sex-matched healthy volunteers (aged 37.9±11.5 years, 31 females) as the control group were included in the study. After detailed medical histories were recorded, 12-lead electrocardiography, blood tests, and echocardiography were performed in the groups. In addition to basic echocardiographic measurements, other specialized right ventricular indicators [i.e, Tricuspid Annular Plane Systolic Excursion (TAPSE), estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (ePASP), right ventricular dimensions, and myocardial performance index (MPI)] were measured. The pulmonary pulse transit time was defined as the time interval between the R-wave peak in ECG and the corresponding peak late-systolic pulmonary vein flow velocity.Results:The mean disease duration was 121.1±49.9 months. The mean age at diagnosis was 35.0±15.4 years. The mean RV MPI was higher (p=0.026), mean TAPSE measurements were shorter (p=0.021), and mean ePASP was higher (p=0.036) in the SLE group than in the control group. In addition, pPTT was significantly shorter in the SLE group (p=0.003). pPTT was inversely correlated with disease duration (p<0.001), MPI (p=0.037), and ePASP (p=0.02) and positively correlated with TAPSE (p<0.001).Conclusion:SLE patients have higher pPTT values than controls. Further, pPTT shows an inverse correlation with disease duration, MPI, and ePASP and a positive correlation with TAPSE.

This study showed for the first time that increased NLR is independently associated with HTN severity in untreated essential HTN patients.