Serum neurokinin B levels in newly diagnosed nondipper hypertensive patients.

OBJECTIVE:Cardiovascular diseases are more common in patients with nondipper hypertension (NDHT) compared with those with dipper hypertension (DHT). The aim of this study is to evaluate the serum neurokinin B levels in DHT and NDHT patients. METHODS:The study population included newly diagnosed hypertensive patients who were not under antihypertensive treatment. A total of 77 patients were evaluated with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and divided into two groups: NDHT (n=42) and DHT (n=35). Plasma neurokinin B levels were measured using the ELISA method. RESULTS:Serum neurokinin B levels were significantly higher in the NDHT group compared with the DHT group [254 (180-888) and 207 (116-752) pg/ml, respectively; P=0.024]. There is a positive correlation between the mean night-time systolic blood pressure and plasma neurokinin levels (r=0.590; P<0.001). On regression analysis, neurokinin B level was only found to be related to the mean night-time systolic blood pressure (unstandardized β=-22.02±9.59; P<0.001). CONCLUSION:Plasma neurokinin B level is higher in patients with NDHT, indicating an unfavorable cardiovascular prognosis. There is a need for further studies that search for the relation between serum neurokinin B levels and NDHT.

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