Serum amphiregulin and cerebellin 1 levels in primary hypertension patients

Background: Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, stroke, congestive heart disease and renal failure. Primary hypertension is a multi-factorial complex disease and its exact etiology still remains unknown. In this study we aimed to compare serum amphiregulin and cerebellin-1 levels of primary hypertension patients with healthy subjects. Material and methods: Forty-four hypertensive patients and 44 healthy people were included. Patients with systolic blood pressure measurements ≥ 140 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure measurements ≥ 90 mm Hg were evaluated as hypertensive. Serum amphiregulin and cerebellin 1 levels were measured using ELISA method. Results: Mean amphiregulin level was 32.1 (10.2–72.5) pg/mL in hypertension group and 36.9 (15.9–109.5) pg/mL in control group (p = 0.002). Mean cerebellin 1 levels were comparable in both groups, 82.1 (23.9–286.1) pg/mL in hypertensive group and 95.1 (60.2–293) pg/mL in control group (p = 0.261). Serum amphiregulin to predict hypertension was found to be ≤ 23 pg/mL with specificity of 97% and sensitivity of 48.5% (AUC = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.62–0.86; p = 0.001). Conclusions: Hypertension is associated with lower serum amphiregulin concentrations.