Plasma nesfatin-1 level may be associated with disease severity in patients with panic disorder

Abstract

Objective: We have compared the plasma levels of the recently discovered peptide hormone nesfatin-1 between patients with panic disorder (PD) and healthy control subjects. Method: The subjects in the patient group were selected from the patients who presented to the psychiatry outpatient clinic of a university hospital and were diagnosed with PD. Healthy subjects similar to the patient group in terms of age, gender, weight, and BMI constituted the control group in this study. The Panic-Agoraphobia Scale (PAS) was applied to all subjects in both groups. Blood samples were collected to measure plasma nesfatin-1 level by using ELISA method. Results: Mean plasma nesfatin-1 level (4.66 ± 2.39 ng/ml in patient group, 2.13 ± 1.52 ng/ml in control group) was higher in patients with PD than in the control group (p<0.001). A positive correlation between PAS scores and plasma nesfatin-1 levels was found in the patients with PD. Conclusion: There may be a relationship between disease severity and plasma nesfatin-1 levels in panic disorder patients. Future studies investigating this relationship are needed.