Abstract

Background: Betatrophin is a novel adipokine that provokes pancreatic β-cell proliferation and is involved in lipid metabolism.
Aims: This study aims to evaluate the role of serum betatrophin in metabolic syndrome (MetS).
Methods: A hospital-based, age-/gender-matched case control study was conducted. The serum betatrophin level was evaluated by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. Serum concentrations of 12 adipokines were measured to assess their associations with serum betatrophin, using commercial Adipokine Magnetic Bead Panel kits. Statistical analyses included bivariate correlation, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and multivariate stepwise linear regression.
Results: Serum betatrophin showed a higher level in MetS patients (997.36 ± 475.92 pg/ml, p = 0.001) compared with controls (735.35±526.51 pg/ml). Compared with the lowest tertile, the highest tertile of serum betatrophin level indicated an association with higher risk of MetS (adjusted odds ratio = 3.521, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.191-10.413], p = 0.023). ROC curve of betatrophin was developed to predict the presence of MetS (area under ROC = 0.682 [95% CI, 0.597-0.767], p < 0.001). Furthermore, betatrophin correlated with several parameters, e.g. age (r = 0.286, p < 0.001), body mass index (r = 0.160, p = 0.046), waist-to-hip ratio (r = 0.241, p = 0.002), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(r = -0.167, p = 0.037), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = -0.195, p = 0.015), fasting plasma glucose (r = 0.266, p = 0.001), hemoglobin A1C (r = 0.314, p < 0.001), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (r = 0.272, p = 0.001), and various adipokines, e.g. resistin (r = 0.571, p < 0.001), interleukin-8 (r = 0.435, p < 0.001), tumor necrosis factor-α (r = 0.295, p = 0.011) and lipocalin-2 (r = 0.346, p = 0.003).

Conclusions: This study supports that serum betatrophin plays an important role in MetS, involving the regulations of glucose and lipid metabolism and inflammation.