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Asprosin is associated with anorexia and body fat mass in cancer patients

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Abstract

Purpose

Increasing evidence suggests that many adipokines are involved in cancer-related anorexia and cachexia syndrome (CACS), although the underlying mechanism remains to be clarify. Asprosin is a new peptide hormone mainly secreted by white adipose tissues that can increase appetite and body weight. In this cross-sectional study, we tested whether asprosin may intervene in the development of CACS.

Methods

The fasting plasma asprosin levels were determined via enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay. Anorexia was determined using the anorexia/cachexia subscale (A/CS) of the functional assessment of anorexia/cachexia therapy (FAACT) questionnaire. The body composition was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis. The association of plasma asprosin with anorexia, cachexia, and nutritional status was analyzed.

Results

One hundred twenty treatment-naïve patients with pathological confirmed gastrointestinal or lung cancer and 14 mild gastritis patients were recruited. We found no significant difference in asprosin levels between subgroups of patients by age, sex, cancer types or stage. Correlation analysis suggested that asprosin levels were positively associated with body fat mass (r = 0.248, p = 0.043). No correlations were found between asprosin levels and hemoglobin, white blood cell count, blood platelet count, albumin, C-reactive protein, glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, body mass index, body fat percentage, protein, skeletal muscle, muscle mass, lean body mass, and basal metabolic rate. Furthermore, asprosin levels were not significantly different between patients with or without cachexia. However, patients with anorexia had significantly lower asprosin levels compared with patients without anorexia. No significant difference in asprosin levels between gastritis and gastric cancer patients. Similarly, no significant change of asprosin levels occurred postoperatively in 10 gastric cancer patients.

Conclusions

Patients with anorexia had significantly lower asprosin levels compared with patients without anorexia. We therefore speculated that asprosin might intervene in the development of cancer anorexia and serve as a potential therapeutic target.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CACS:

Cancer-related anorexia and cachexia syndrome

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay

FAACT:

Functional assessment of anorexia/cachexia therapy

NSCLC:

Non-small cell lung cancer

PIF:

Proteolysis-inducing factor

TNF-α:

Tumor necrosis factor alpha

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Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation of China (No. 81702423) and Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2017 M623442).

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Author notes

  1. Cheng Du, Chaoyun Wang and Xin Guan contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command, No.83 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110840, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Du, Chaoyun Wang, Xin Guan, Jingyu Li, Xiaowei Du, Zhuxuan Xu, Baolei Li, Yao Liu, Fangwei Fu & Zhendong Zheng

  2. Department of Clinical Trial Management Agency, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command, No.83 Wenhua Road, Shenyang, 110840, People’s Republic of China

    Hua Huo

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  1. Cheng Du
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Correspondence to Hua Huo or Zhendong Zheng.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of General Hospital of Northern Theater Command.

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Written informed consent was obtained from each participant.

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Du, C., Wang, C., Guan, X. et al. Asprosin is associated with anorexia and body fat mass in cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 29, 1369–1375 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05621-8

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