Department of Gastroenterology, Gulhane School of Medicine, Etlik, Ankara, Turkey.
Metabolism. 2010 Jul;59(7):977-81. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2009.10.019. Epub 2009 Dec 31.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), one of the most common forms of chronic liver disease, is closely associated with obesity and insulin resistance. Recent studies suggest that apelin, a newly described adipokine, is associated with hyperinsulinemia and inflammation. The aim of the study was to investigate plasma apelin concentrations in biopsy-proven NAFLD patients who had no metabolic confounders and also to search for the association of apelin with adiponectin, body mass index (BMI), and insulin sensitivity. Fifty male patients with NAFLD and 30 healthy male controls were enrolled. Apelin was measured along with BMI, lipids, glucose, insulin, adiponectin, and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) of insulin resistance indexes. Plasma apelin levels were significantly higher and adiponectin levels were lower in NAFLD patients when compared with the controls (P < .001 and P = .013, respectively). In multivariate analysis adjusted for BMI and HOMA indexes, the differences in apelin and adiponectin disappeared in the 2 groups (P = .3 and P = .1, respectively). In addition, apelin levels were positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.29, P = .05) and HOMA indexes (r = 0.4, P = .008) in subjects with NAFLD. The results of this preliminary study suggest that plasma apelin levels are not altered in nondiabetic and normotensive male subjects with NAFLD.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）是最常见的慢性肝病之一，与肥胖和胰岛素抵抗密切相关。最近的研究表明，一种新描述的脂肪因子——apelin 与高胰岛素血症和炎症有关。本研究旨在探讨无代谢混杂因素的活检证实的 NAFLD 患者的血浆 apelin 浓度，并寻找 apelin 与脂联素、体重指数（BMI）和胰岛素敏感性的关系。共纳入 50 例男性 NAFLD 患者和 30 例健康男性对照者。同时测定 BMI、血脂、血糖、胰岛素、脂联素和稳态模型评估（HOMA）的胰岛素抵抗指数。与对照组相比，NAFLD 患者的血浆 apelin 水平显著升高，脂联素水平显著降低（P <.001 和 P =.013）。在调整 BMI 和 HOMA 指数的多变量分析中，两组间的 apelin 和脂联素差异消失（P =.3 和 P =.1）。此外，在 NAFLD 患者中，apelin 水平与 BMI（r = 0.29，P =.05）和 HOMA 指数（r = 0.4，P =.008）呈正相关。这项初步研究的结果表明，在无糖尿病和血压正常的男性 NAFLD 患者中，血浆 apelin 水平没有改变。
