Investigation of serum phoenixin levels in patients with hypertension

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and premature death worldwide. Phoenixin is a newly identified neuropeptide with multiple bioactivity. However, there was no published data about phoenixin levels in hypertension. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between phoenixin and hypertension. METHODS: This study was performed in 36 patients with hypertension and 36 healthy controls. Serum phoenixin-14 and phoenixin-20 levels were determined by Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay method. RESULTS: Serum phoenixin-14 and phoenixin-20 values were significantly lower in hypertension patients compared with the control group (p<0.001). The levels of phoenixin-14 were negatively correlated with weight (r=-0.376; p<0.005), body mass index (r=-0.407; p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (r=-0.586; p<0.001), and diastolic blood pressure (r=-0.319; p<0.01). There was a negative correlation between serum phoenixin-20 and weight (r=-0.378; p<0.005), body mass index (r=-0.383; p<0.005), systolic blood pressure (r=-0.551; p<0.001), and diastolic blood pressure (r=-0.306; p<0.01). We used receiver operating characteristic curve analyses to compare the diagnosis value of Phoenixin-14 and Phoenixin-20 levels in hypertensive patients. We found that Phoenixin-14 value is an area under the curve of 0.87 (cutoff value 404.7 ng/L, sensitivity 92%, specificity 72%) and Phoenixin-20 value is an area under the curve of 0.83 (cutoff value 209.9 ng/L, sensitivity 86%, specificity 75%). Phoenixin-14 did nearly show equally compared to phoenixin-20 in predicting hypertension. CONCLUSION: Serum phoenixin-14 and phoenixin-20 may be related to the pathogenesis of hypertension. Our findings indicated that serum phoenixin-14 and phoenixin-20 may serve as a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of hypertension.

Current state of phoenixin—the implications of the pleiotropic peptide in stress and its potential as a therapeutic target

“…Phoenixin-14 has shown both cardioprotective properties by increasing contractile function after an ischemia protocol and reducing apoptosis, both also in obese rodents, as well as negative properties such as the reduction in relaxation, which is also present in cardiac pathologies such as heart failure with normal ejection fraction ( Rocca et al, 2018 ). Phoenixin also seems to be linked to hypertension, with a recent report showing an inverse correlation between blood pressure and serum phoenixin-14 and -20 levels as well as body weight and phoenixin levels ( Akdu et al, 2022 ). Notably, this study investigated both male and female subjects ( Akdu et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Phoenixin also seems to be linked to hypertension, with a recent report showing an inverse correlation between blood pressure and serum phoenixin-14 and -20 levels as well as body weight and phoenixin levels ( Akdu et al, 2022 ). Notably, this study investigated both male and female subjects ( Akdu et al, 2022 ). The recently presented evidence suggesting a protective effect of phoenixin-20 against ox-LDL-induced atherosclerosis ( Wei et al, 2021 ) together with its altered levels in arterial hypertension and its proposed cardioprotective properties could potentially make it a target for pharmaceutical treatment of hypertension or cardiac dysfunction.…”

Physiopathological Effects of Phoenixin

“…Ayrıca PNX-20 agonizmi, insan lösemi monosit hücrelerinin (THP-1) insan aortik endotel hücrelerine bağlanmasını önleyerek ve NF-κB yolunu zayıflatarak hastalığın ilerlemesini iyileştirebilir (40). Hipertansiyon hastaları üzerinde yapılan bir çalışmada, hipertansiyon grubunda serum PNX-14 ve PNX-20 düzeylerinin sağlıklı kontrollere göre anlamlı derecede düşük olduğu düzeyleri ve ağırlık, vücut kitle indeksi, sistolik ve diyastolik kan basıncı ile negatif korelasyon gösterdiği bulunmuştur (43). Bu bulgular serum PNX-14 ve PNX-20'nin hipertansiyon riskini öngörmede potansiyel bir biyobelirteç olabileceğini düşündürmektedir.…”