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The relationship between insulin resistance, obesity, and endotrophin

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International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Endotrophin is the cleavage product COL6. Recent findings indicate that endotrophin is actively involved in inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrosis. It also seems to play a critical role in obesity-induced systemic insulin resistance by increasing chronic inflammation and fibrosis in adipose tissues. In this study, we aimed to reveal the relationship between human adipose tissue, inflammation, and insulin resistance (IR).

Methods

The study included 51 IR patients and 37 healthy controls. The presence of IR was based on Homeostatic model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) level of 2, 7, or higher. Fasting plasma samples were obtained from the patients and the control group.

Results

The IR patients had a higher HOMA-IR, waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FI), and triglyceride levels than the control subjects (p < 0.05). Endotrophin and CRP levels were significantly higher in patients with IR than controls (23.12 ± 18.32 ng/mL; 11.20 ± 6.60 ng/mL p < 0,001; 5.5 ± 3.37 ng/L; 1.97 ± 0.89 ng/L p < 0.001). The serum endotrophin level showed a positive correlation with HOMA-IR (r = 0.359; p < 0.001), waist circumference (r = 0.214; p < 0.05), FI (r = 0.386; p < 0.001), and CRP level (r = 0.251; p < 0.05)

Conclusion

The serum endotrophin level was higher in patients with IR, independently of BMI, fasting glucose, and all other factors. Therefore, we foresee that high levels of endotrophin may be a new biomarker for early diagnosis of metabolic worsening in overweight and obesity. We also found a positive correlation between endotrophin and CRP. This indicates that endotrophin is closely related to inflammatory processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Internal Medicine Department, Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Şengül Aydin Yoldemir, Yücel Arman, Murat Akarsu, Özgür Altun, Ilkim Deniz Toprak, Mustafa Özcan, Semih Kalyon, Yasin Kutlu, Sedat Irmak & Zeki Toprak

  2. Medical Biochemistry Department, Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

    Okan Dikker

  3. Internal Medicine Department, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Tufan Tükek

Authors
  1. Şengül Aydin Yoldemir
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  2. Yücel Arman
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  3. Murat Akarsu
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  4. Özgür Altun
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Şengül Aydin Yoldemir.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Highlights

• Determination of inflammation-associated biomarkers will help to understand the pathophysiology of IR.

• Endotrophin, the alpha 3 chain of type VI collagen, plays a critical role in obesity-induced systemic insulin resistance by increasing chronic inflammation and fibrosis in adipose tissues.

• Endotrophin level was higher in patients with IR, independently of BMI, fasting glucose, and all other factors.

• Endotrophin can be used either during the follow-up or in treatment of inflammation and IR.

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Aydin Yoldemir, Ş., Arman, Y., Akarsu, M. et al. The relationship between insulin resistance, obesity, and endotrophin. Int J Diabetes Dev Ctries 40, 191–195 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13410-019-00780-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13410-019-00780-9

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