Altered organokine expression contributes to increased cardiometabolic risk in obesity.
Our aim was to evaluate the associations of serum afamin with glucose homeostasis,
atherogenic dyslipidemia, and other adipokines in severe obesity to clarify the early
metabolic alterations. 106 non-diabetic obese (NDO) subjects and 62 obese patients
with type 2 diabetes matched for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) were enrolled
in this study. We compared their data with 49 healthy, lean controls. Serum afamin
and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), as well as plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1
(PAI-1), were measured with ELISA, and lipoprotein subfractions were analyzed using
Lipoprint gel electrophoresis. Afamin and PAI-1 found to be significantly higher in
the NDO and T2M group (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively) than in the controls.
In contrast, RBP4 was unexpectedly lower in the NDO and T2DM group compared to controls
(p < 0.001). Afamin showed negative correlations with mean LDL size and RBP4, but
positive correlations with anthropometric, glucose/lipid parameters, and PAI-1 in
both the overall patients and the in NDO + T2DM groups. BMI, glucose, intermediate
HDL, and small HDL were predictors of afamin. Afamin may serve as a biomarker for
the severity of cardiometabolic disturbances in obesity. The complexity of organokine
patterns in NDO subjects draws attention to the diverse spectrum of obesity-related
comorbidities.
