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Plasma apelin level in patients with restless legs syndrome and its association with periodic leg movements

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Objectives

Apelin is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule secreted by adipose tissue and has a protective effect on cardiac and neuronal tissue. Recent studies have reported that the risk of vascular disease is increased in restless legs syndrome (RLS). We aimed to measure plasma levels of apelin in patients with RLS. Additionally, we wanted to determine if there is any relationship between apelin levels and RLS disease severity and the periodic leg movement index (PLMI).

Method

A total of 14 RLS patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms and 14 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy controls participated in the study. All participants had no concomitant medical disorder nor took medications. The international RLS rating scale (IRLSS) was used to determine disease severity. Polysomnography (PSG) served to exclude other sleep disorders such as sleep-related breathing disorders and to measure sleep parameters.

Results

The mean plasma apelin level was significantly lower in the patient group compared to the control group independent of IRLSS score and PSG findings (p = 0.004). After comparison between the RLS patient group and control group, the patient group was divided into two subgroups based on a PLMI above or below 15 events per hour. A reduced mean apelin level was observed in the patient group having a PLMI above 15 compared to the patient group with PLMI below 15 and the control group (p = 0.003). There was no correlation between plasma apelin levels and disease severity and PLMI in the two patient subgroups.

Conclusions

RLS patients especially those with a PLMI above 15 have low plasma apelin levels independent of disease severity and sleep parameters such as sleep duration and quality. Decreased apelin levels may explain the increased risk for vascular diseases in those patients.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to Dr Mark Hallett and Devee Schoenberg for the editing support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Acibadem Kayseri Hospital, Acibadem University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

    Selda Korkmaz & Murat Aksu

  2. NIH/NINDS Human Motor Control Section, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Selda Korkmaz

  3. Department of Biochemistry, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey

    Gulden Baskol

Authors
  1. Selda Korkmaz
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  2. Murat Aksu
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  3. Gulden Baskol
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Selda Korkmaz.

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Funding

Turkish Sleep Medicine Society provided financial support in the form of Grant number TSMS2013/01 funding.

Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements) or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Korkmaz, S., Aksu, M. & Baskol, G. Plasma apelin level in patients with restless legs syndrome and its association with periodic leg movements. Sleep Breath 21, 19–24 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-016-1355-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-016-1355-7

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