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. 2019 Dec 20;9(1):26.
doi: 10.3390/jcm9010026.

Stronger Correlations between Neurophysiological and Peripheral Disease Biomarkers Predict Better Prognosis in Two Severe Diseases

Yori Gidron  1 , Marijke De Couck  2 , Tatjana Reynders  2   3 , Raphael Marechal  4 , Sebastiaan Engelborghs  2 , And Marie D'hooghe  2
Affiliations

Stronger Correlations between Neurophysiological and Peripheral Disease Biomarkers Predict Better Prognosis in Two Severe Diseases

Yori Gidron et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

: 'Mind-body' debates assume that better brain-body associations are healthy. This study examined whether degree of associations between a neurophysiological vagal nerve index and peripheral disease biomarkers predict prognosis in pancreatic cancer (PC) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Sample 1 included 272 patients with advanced PC. Sample 2 included 118 patients with MS. We measured the vagal nerve index heart rate variability (HRV) derived from electrocardiograms. We examined associations between HRV and patients' peripheral disease biomarkers: CA19-9 in PC and neurofilament light chain (NFL) in MS. Associations between HRV and each biomarker were examined separately in patients who survived or died (PC), and in those with and without relapse during 12 months (MS). In PC, HRV was significantly inversely related to the tumor marker CA19-9 in patients who later survived (r = -0.44, p < 0.05) but not in those who died (r = 0.10, NS). In MS, HRV was significantly and inversely related to NFL only in those who did not relapse (r = -0.25, p < 0.05), but not in those who relapsed (r = -0.05, NS). The degree of association between a neurophysiological vagal marker and peripheral disease biomarkers has prognostic value in two distinct diseases.

Keywords: biomarkers; brain-body synchronization; cancer; multiple sclerosis; neurophysiology; prognosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and the tumor marker CA19-9 in patients with pancreatic cancer who later died (correlation without adjustment for confounders mentioned in text); (b) Relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and the tumor marker CA19-9 in patients with pancreatic cancer who survived (correlation without adjustment for confounders mentioned in text).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and the multiple sclerosis (MS) marker NFL in patients who did relapse (correlation without adjustment for confounder mentioned in text); (b) Relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and the MS marker neurofilament light chain (NFL) in patients who did not relapse (correlation without adjustment for confounder mentioned in text).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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