Nocturnal blood pressure dipping is similar in rheumatoid arthritis patients as compared to a normal population.

OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune inflammatory disorder which further doubles the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Some studies suggest that in RA patients, the prevalence of hypertension increases due to prednisolone use, clinical status, genetic factors, and physical inactivity. On the other hand, dipper and non-dipper status in RA patients compared to non-RA subjects has not been investigated to our knowledge. Purpose of the study is to investigate whether non-dipper status is more deteriorated in RA patients. METHODS: Sixty-five RA patients and 61 age-sex-matched control patients were evaluated in this cross-sectional study. Patients were classified according to 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring results. Patients with previous hypertension diagnosis, coronary artery disease, and abnormal kidney function were excluded. RESULTS: Mean age of the study sample was 53.7 ± 12.3 years and 40.5% were male. There was no significant difference between groups in terms of basic demographic characteristics. Leukocyte counts (p = 0.001), neutrophil counts (p = 0.001), and red cell distribution width (p = 0.000) were significantly higher in the RA group. ABPM results indicate no significant difference between RA patients and the control group in terms of daytime systolic and diastolic blood pressure, nighttime systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and average systolic and diastolic blood pressure results (p > 0.05). There was no statistical difference regarding the non-dipper status of patient groups (p = 0.412). Nocturnal blood pressure dipping was significantly similar between groups (p = 0.980). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, RA patients have similar values in terms of nocturnal blood pressure dipping and hypertension diagnosis as compared to normal population.

Is there any diagnostic value of serum protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR1) levels on determination of epithelial ovarian carcinoma?

The role of molecular markers in ovarian cancer is still a matter of debate. Protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR1) might be a good marker in some types of malignant tumors and might provide useful information in diagnosis and prognosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the serum levels of PAR1 in regard to diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic value in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients. Forty-four EOC patients were enrolled in this study. Serum PAR1 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Twenty-five age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the analysis. The median age of patients was 58 years old, ranging from 22 to 83 years, where most of them had advanced disease (stage III-IV) (n = 40, 91%). The median serum PAR1 values were significantly elevated in patients compared to healthy controls (1.52 ng/ml vs. 1.13 ng/ml) (p = 0.03), whereas any clinical variables including response to chemotherapy did not associate with serum assay (p > 0.05). Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients who did not respond to chemotherapy nor had platinum resistance in relapsed disease were poorer in the analyses. On the other hand, serum PAR1 levels showed no significant adverse effect on either PFS or OS (p = 0.43 and p = 0.49, respectively). These results proved that baseline serum PAR1 levels of patients with EOC were significantly higher than those of healthy people. However, these assays suggested no predictive or prognostic value in this group of patients.