Betatrophin, also known as angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8), mainly plays a role
in lipid metabolism. To date, associations between betatrophin and lipoprotein subfractions
are poorly investigated. For this study, 50 obese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D)
and 70 nondiabetic obese (NDO) subjects matched in gender, age, and body mass index
(BMI) as well as 49 gender- and age-matched healthy, normal-weight controls were enrolled.
Serum betatrophin levels were measured with ELISA, and lipoprotein subfractions were
analyzed using Lipoprint gel electrophoresis. Betatrophin concentrations were found
to be significantly higher in the T2D and NDO groups compared to the controls in all
subjects and in females, but not in males. We found significant positive correlations
between triglyceride, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), large LDL (low density
lipoprotein), small LDL, high density lipoprotein (HDL) -6-10 subfractions, and betatrophin,
while negative correlations were detected between betatrophin and IDL, mean LDL size,
and HDL-1-5. Proportion of small HDL was the best predictor of betatrophin in all
subjects. Small LDL and large HDL subfractions were found to be the best predictors
in females, while in males, VLDL was found to be the best predictor of betatrophin.
Our results underline the significance of serum betatrophin measurement in the cardiovascular
risk assessment of obese patients with and without T2D, but gender differences might
be taken into consideration.
