Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Oct 19, 2023; 13(10): 714-723
Published online Oct 19, 2023. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v13.i10.714
Serum neuronal pentraxin 2 is related to cognitive dysfunction and electroencephalogram slow wave/fast wave frequency ratio in epilepsy
Xiao-Fen Huang, Ming-Xia Xu, Yue-Fan Chen, Yun-Qing Lin, Yuan-Xiang Lin, Feng Wang
Xiao-Fen Huang, Ming-Xia Xu, Yue-Fan Chen, Yun-Qing Lin, Yuan-Xiang Lin, Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian Province, China
Feng Wang, Department of Neurosurgery, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350212, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Huang X, Lin Y, and Wang F were responsible for the study’s conception and design; Xu M and Chen Y provided administrative support; Huang X and Lin Y provided the study materials and patients; Xu M and Lin Y conducted data collection; Chen Y and Wang F conducted data analysis and interpretation; all authors contributed to the manuscript writing process and granted final approval for the manuscript.
Supported by 2022 Educational Research Program for Young and Middle-aged Teachers in Fujian Province (Science and Technology), No. JAT220107.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the ethics board of First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University (No. [2019]274).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Feng Wang, MD, Doctor, Postdoc, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, No. 999 Huashan Road, Changle District, Fuzhou 350212, Fujian Province, China. fengwedu@163.com
Received: August 16, 2023
Peer-review started: August 16, 2023
First decision: August 31, 2023
Revised: September 8, 2023
Accepted: September 22, 2023
Article in press: September 22, 2023
Published online: October 19, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Cognitive dysfunction in epileptic patients is a high-incidence complication. Its mechanism is related to nervous system damage during seizures, but there is no effective diagnostic biomarker. Neuronal pentraxin 2 (NPTX2) is thought to play a vital role in neurotransmission and the maintenance of synaptic plasticity. This study explored how serum NPTX2 and electroencephalogram (EEG) slow wave/fast wave frequency ratio relate to cognitive dysfunction in patients with epilepsy.

AIM

To determine if serum NPTX2 could serve as a potential biomarker for diagnosing cognitive impairment in epilepsy patients.

METHODS

The participants of this study, conducted from January 2020 to December 2021, comprised 74 epilepsy patients with normal cognitive function (normal group), 37 epilepsy patients with cognitive dysfunction [epilepsy patients with cognitive dysfunction (ECD) group] and 30 healthy people (control group). The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scale was used to evaluate cognitive function. We determined serum NPTX2 levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent kit and calculated the signal value of EEG regions according to the EEG recording. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between serum NPTX2 and the MMSE score.

RESULTS

The serum NPTX2 level in the control group, normal group and ECD group were 240.00 ± 35.06 pg/mL, 235.80 ± 38.01 pg/mL and 193.80 ± 42.72 pg/mL, respectively. The MMSE score was lowest in the ECD group among the three, while no significant difference was observed between the control and normal groups. In epilepsy patients with cognitive dysfunction, NPTX2 level had a positive correlation with the MMSE score (r = 0.367, P = 0.0253) and a negative correlation with epilepsy duration (r = −0.443, P = 0.0061) and the EEG slow wave/fast wave frequency ratio value in the temporal region (r = −0.339, P = 0.039).

CONCLUSION

Serum NPTX2 was found to be related to cognitive dysfunction and the EEG slow wave/fast wave frequency ratio in patients with epilepsy. It is thus a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of cognitive impairment in patients with epilepsy.

Keywords: Serum neuronal pentraxin 2, Cognitive dysfunction, Epilepsy, Electroencephalogram slow wave/fast wave frequency ratio, Biomarker

Core Tip: Here, we found serum neuronal pentraxin 2 (NPTX2) levels were found to be significantly higher in the normal group than in the cognitive dysfunction group. Additionally, NPTX2 levels showed a positive correlation with cognitive function scores and a negative correlation with epilepsy duration and electroencephalogram (EEG) slow wave/fast wave frequency ratio values in the temporal region. Serum NPTX2 level and the EEG slow wave/fast wave frequency ratio value had good sensitivity and specificity for evaluating cognitive dysfunction. These findings suggest that serum NPTX2 could be a valuable biomarker for diagnosing cognitive impairment in patients with epilepsy, providing important insights for clinical practice.