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Evaluation of potential cardiovascular risk protein biomarkers in high severity restless legs syndrome

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Original Article
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Abstract

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common sensorimotor disorder that, in case of severe symptoms, can be very distressing and negatively interfere with quality of life. Moreover, increasing evidences associate RLS with higher risk of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The purpose of this study was to quantify two proteins, previously identified by proteomics and potentially linked with CVD risk, namely kininogen-1 (KNG1) and alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT), in primary RLS patients at high severity grade (HS-RLS) in comparison to healthy control subjects. Proteins were quantified through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in plasma samples from 14 HS-RLS patients and 15 control individuals. The two groups were closely matched for age and gender. The expression level of KNG1 resulted significantly higher (p < 0.001), while A1AT was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in HS-RLS patients compared to controls, confirming the relationship between these proteins and the disease severity. Furthermore, in patients group the association between the protein concentrations and the following parameters was further evaluated: age, disease onset and diagnosis, scores obtained from the RLS rating scales (Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Beck Depression Inventory) and smoking habit. All the considered variables resulted independent of protein levels, so the disease can be reasonably considered the main cause of protein changes. As emerged from the literature, high levels of KNG1 and low amounts of A1AT seem to be related with a highest probability to develop CVD. Consequently, these proteins may be reliable candidate biomarkers of CVD risk in patients with RLS at high severity grade.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Proteomic Lab, Department of Surgery, Medicine, Dentistry and Morphological Science with Transplant Surgery, Oncology and Regenerative Medicine Relevance, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41124, Modena, Italy

    Elisa Bellei, Stefania Bergamini, Emanuela Monari & Aldo Tomasi

  2. Department of Neurology, Bakirkoy Psychiatry and Neurology Research and Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mesrure Koseoglu & Selma Topaloglu Tuac

  3. Department of Neurology, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey

    Serkan Ozben

Authors
  1. Elisa Bellei
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  2. Stefania Bergamini
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  3. Emanuela Monari
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  4. Aldo Tomasi
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  5. Mesrure Koseoglu
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  6. Selma Topaloglu Tuac
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  7. Serkan Ozben
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Correspondence to Elisa Bellei.

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Bellei, E., Bergamini, S., Monari, E. et al. Evaluation of potential cardiovascular risk protein biomarkers in high severity restless legs syndrome. J Neural Transm 126, 1313–1320 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-019-02051-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-019-02051-7

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