J Appl Biomed 22:81-88, 2024 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2024.011

The impact of obesity, age, and gender on plasmatic levels of selected glycoprotein biomarkers and miRNA-499 in OSA patients

Tomáš Kostlivý¹, Martin Pešta², Jindra Windrichová³, Petr Škopek¹, Pavel Klail¹, Alena Skálová⁴, Břetislav Gál⁵, Radek Kučera⁶, Krista Plicková⁷, Václav Šimánek¹, David Slouka^{1, *}

¹ Charles University, University Hospital in Pilsen, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Pilsen, Czech Republic

² Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Department of Biology, Pilsen, Czech Republic

³ Charles University, University Hospital in Pilsen, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Department of Immunochemistry Diagnostics, Pilsen, Czech Republic

⁴ Charles University, University Hospital in Pilsen, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Department of Pathology, Pilsen, Czech Republic

⁵ Masaryk University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Brno, Czech Republic

⁶ Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Pilsen, Czech Republic

⁷ Charles University, University Hospital in Pilsen, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Department of Pneumology and Phthisiology, Pilsen, Czech Republic

Background: The current obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) diagnostic uses polysomnography or limited polygraphy and requires specialized personnel and technical equipment. Glycoprotein biomarkers and microRNAs are being explored as a possible new method for screening. We aimed to evaluate whether certain biomarkers and microRNA, previously identified as related to OSA, could be influenced by factors such as gender, age, and obesity level in patients with OSA.

Methods: In this retrospective analytical study, patients with moderate to severe OSA (n = 130) were compared with the control group. Serum levels of selected biomarkers and microRNA were taken from both groups. The group of OSA patients was then stratified by gender, obesity level, and age to see the possible influence of those variables on biomarker levels.

Results: Levels of all studied biomarkers - C-reactive protein (CRP), high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI), pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), and microRNA-499 were significantly higher in patients with OSA compared to the control group. In the OSA group only hsTnI showed a statistically significant relationship with gender. Levels of CRP and hsTnI showed a significant dependence on the level of obesity. Dependency on age was proven for hsTnI. CRP, PTX-3, and microRNA-499 did not have any statistically significant relationship with age.

Conclusion: We found that serum levels of pentraxin-3 and microRNA-499 in patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea are independent of gender, obesity, and age. CRP was affected by the level of obesity and hsTnI was influenced by all 3 variables. We consider these findings important for further research of OSA biomarkers.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Diagnostic process; microRNA; Obstructive sleep apnoea

Grants and funding:

The work was supported by the Cooperatio Program, research area SURG, and by the Ministry of Health, Czech Republic – conceptual development of research organization (Faculty Hospital in Pilsen – FNPl, 00669806), and project BBMRI-CZ: Biobank network – a versatile platform for the research of the etiopathogenesis of diseases CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16013/0001674, Bank of the clinical samples LM2018125.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: December 21, 2023; Revised: March 24, 2024; Accepted: May 6, 2024; Prepublished online: June 14, 2024; Published: June 24, 2024  Show citation