Catestatin is a multifunctional peptide that is involved in the regulation of the cardiovascular and immune systems as well as metabolic homeostatis. It mitigates detrimental, excessive activity of the sympathetic nervous system by inhibiting catecholamine secretion. Based on in vitro and in vivo studies, catestatin was shown to reduce adipose tissue, inhibit inflammatory response, prevent macrophage-driven atherosclerosis, and regulate cytokine production and release. Clinical studies indicate that catestatin may influence the processes leading to hypertension, affect the course of coronary artery diseases and heart failure. This review presents up-to-date research on catestatin with a particular emphasis on cardiovascular diseases based on a literature search.

BackgroundRenal cell cancer may cause various paraneoplastic syndromes; however, paraneoplastic hypereosinophilia occurs exceedingly rare. Thus far, only two cases of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) associated with hypereosinophilia have been reported. In this paper, we present a case of paraneoplastic hypereosinophilia associated with renal cell carcinoma and a review of the reported cases of hypereosinophilia in solid tumors.MethodsThe review is based on an electronic literature search performed in the PubMed database in September 2020 with the following key terms: eosinophilia & neoplasm; eosinophilia & cancer; eosinophilia & paraneoplastic syndrome. Papers were included based on screening the titles and/or abstracts. We also included the case of our patient in the analysis.Case presentationA 68-year-old Caucasian female patient with recurrent CCRCC was admitted to our Clinic for exacerbating dyspnea and chest and right upper abdominal pain, accompanied by confusion. Preliminary blood tests showed an increased white blood cell count of 40,770/μl, and an increased eosinophil count of 6,530/μl indicating eosinophilia. Several tests were carried out to rule out the noncancer causes of hypereosinophilia. The temporal appearance of eosinophilia and the recurrence of CCRCC without any other apparent potential causes led to the diagnosis of paraneoplastic hypereosinophilia. Despite treating with high doses of corticosteroids, only a transient decrement in eosinophil count was observed along with further deterioration of the patient’s condition. The patient succumbed to the disease 6 months following the tumor surgery and 2 months after the diagnosis of hypereosinophilia and tumor recurrence.ConclusionOur observations are in agreement with the majority of reports showing that the occurrence of eosinophilia following tumor resection may indicate a poor prognosis, tumor recurrence, and rapid disease progression.

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In recent years, research has emphasized the significance of mild clinical and biochemical presentations of primary aldosteronism (PA) that do not meet current diagnostic criteria of the syndrome. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of autonomous aldosterone (Ald) secretion (AAS), defined as a positive (>1.2 ng/dL/mIU/L) Ald-to-renin ratio (ADRR) combined with unsuppressed Ald (>4 ng/dL), and its associations with blood pressure (BP), cardiac function, and common carotid artery (CCA) intima-media thickness (IMT) in patients with incidentally discovered adrenal adenomas (AI), who were either normo- or hypertensive but had no other cardiovascular disease. Among 332 AI patients hospitalized between November 2018 and December 2019, 63 study participants were recruited (26 normo- and 37 hypertensive), who underwent hormonal examinations, 24 h ambulatory BP measurement, transthoracic echocardiography, and CCA IMT assessment without altering chronic medications. AAS was found in approximately 25% of subjects (seven normo- and nine hypertensive); urinary aldosterone excretion (UAldE) exceeded 10 ug/day in none of the subjects. The left ventricular mass index correlated positively with UAldE in non-diabetic patients (n = 50), and negatively with renin in those without beta blocker therapy (n = 38). The study shows that a pragmatic approach to hormonal assessment (no chronic therapy modification) may reveal patients with AAS. Screening for this subclinical PA presentation is probably more effective with a permissive ADRR than UAldE in such a setting.

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