Obstrüktif uyku apne sendromlu hastalarda serum YKL 40/kitinaz 3 benzeri protein 1 düzeyi ateroskleroz gelişiminin bağımsız bir öngörücüsüdür

Objective: The inflammatory process plays an important rolein the development of cardiovascular complications in patientswith obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). YKL-40/chitin- ase 3 like protein 1 is a novel biomarker of systemic inflamma- tion. This study aimed to investigate whether carotid intima-me- dia thickness (CIMT), a useful marker for early atherosclerosis,is associated with serum YKL 40/chitinase 3 like protein 1 lev- els in patients with normotensive and nondiabetic OSAS. Methods: The study included 40 OSAS patients and 40 age-sex- and body mass index-matched healthy controls. SerumYKL 40 levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosor- bent assay. CIMT was measured by B-mode ultrasound. Results: The patients with OSAS had significantly increasedCIMT and higher YKL 40 and high sensitivity C-reactiveprotein (hsCRP) levels than those of the controls. CIMTwas strongly correlated with serum YKL 40 levels (r=0.694,p<0.001), hsCRP (r=0.622, p<0.001), age (r=0.525, p=0.001),and weakly correlated with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)(r=0.365, p=0.021) and the percentage of recording timespent (PRTS) of oxygen saturation <90% (r=0.488, p=0.001).Moreover, it was detected that serum YKL-40 levels werestrongly correlated with AHI (r=0.617, p<0.001), and weaklycorrelated with SaO2 <90% of PRTS (r=0.394, p=0.012) andhsCRP (r=0.486, p=0.001). In multiple regression analyses,age and serum levels of YKL 40 and hsCRP were found to beindependent predictors of CIMT. Conclusion: In patients with OSAS, CIMT was increased.This increase was associated with serum YKL 40 level. In- creased serum level of YKL 40 may be an early predictor ofatherosclerosis development in patients with OSAS.