Gender‐Related Changes of the Epicardial Fat Thickness and Leptin in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Background Epicardial fat thickness ( EFT ), an indicator of visceral obesity, and leptin are 2 novel markers for studying the obstructive sleep apnea ( OSA ) population. This study aimed to investigate the effects of gender on leptin levels and EFT , and the relation with OSA severity. Methods A total of 149 patients with OSA (female/male 55/94 and mean age 50.8 ± 9.2 years) and 50 control patients (female/male 24/26 and mean age 48.9 ± 8.8 years) were included in the study. The study population was divided into 4 groups according to apnea/hypopnea index ( AHI ) as control ( AHI <5), the mild OSA ( AHI 5–14), the moderate OSA ( AHI 15–29), and the severe OSA ( AHI ≥30). EFT was obtained from parasternal long‐axis and parasternal short‐axis echocardiographic images. Results Leptin levels among females were significantly higher than among males (10.5 [7.8] vs. 5.4 [4.5] ng/mL, P = 0.001, respectively). Among women, leptin levels were significantly higher in the severe OSA group compared to the control group (9.8 [9.0] vs. 15.5 [10.1] ng/mL, P = 0.05, respectively). Conversely, no relation was observed between OSA severity and the leptin levels among men. EFT was not significantly different between the 2 genders (P > 0.05). EFT was thicker in the severe OSA group than in the control and mild OSA groups among women, whereas EFT was not changed according to OSA severity among males (P > 0.05). Conclusion Leptin and EFT may be a valuable parameter in the evaluation of OSA severity in women than in men.