Circulating irisin may allow physicians to establish which women merit screening by a biomarker for PCOS.

Our objective is to determine circulating Bone morphogenetic protein-9(BMP-9) levels in subjects with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and examine the relationship between BMP-9 and conventional markers for MetS and insulin resistance (IR). A total of 362 newly diagnosed patients with MetS along with healthy controls were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Circulating BMP-9 levels were measured by ELISA. Circulating BMP-9 levels were significantly lower in MetS patients compared to those of the healthy controls. BMP-9 was associated negatively with Waist hip ratio (WHR), fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-hour blood glucose after glucose overload (2h-OGTT), HbA1c, triglyceride (TG) levels and HOMA-IR and positively with free fatty acid (FFA) and HDL after control for age and sex. In a multiple linear regression, BMP-9 was independently associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), HOMA-IR and FFA. Binary logistic regression showed that plasma BMP-9 concentrations were significantly associated with MetS even after controlling for anthropometric variables and lipid profiles. In addition, circulating BMP-9 levels reduced progressively with an increasing number of MetS components. The best cutoff values for circulating BMP-9 to predict MetS was 56.6 ng/L. Circulating BMP-9 levels were associated with the key components of MetS and IR.

The dedicator of cytokinesis 5 (DOCK5) is associated with obesity. However, the mechanism by which DOCK5 contributes to obesity remains completely unknown. Here, we show that hepatic DOCK5 expression significantly decreases at a state of insulin resistance (IR). Deletion of DOCK5 in mice reduces energy expenditure, promotes obesity, augments IR, dysregulates glucose metabolism, and activates the mTOR (Raptor)/S6K1 pathway under a high-fat diet (HFD). The overexpression of DOCK5 in hepatocytes inhibits gluconeogenic gene expression and increases the level of insulin receptor (InsR) and Akt phosphorylation. DOCK5 overexpression also inhibits mTOR/S6K1 phosphorylation and decreases the level of raptor protein expression. The opposite effects were observed in DOCK5-deficient hepatocytes. Importantly, in liver-specific Raptor knockout mice and associated hepatocytes, the effects of an adeno-associated virus (AAV8)-or adenovirus-mediated DOCK5 knockdown on glucose metabolism and insulin signaling are largely eliminated. Additionally, DOCK5-Raptor interaction is indispensable for the DOCK5-mediated regulation of hepatic glucose production (HGP). Therefore, DOCK5 acts as a regulator of Raptor to control hepatic insulin activity and glucose homeostasis.

BackgroundPrevious animal studies have revealed that CTRP7 is related to energy metabolism. However, little is known regarding the relationship between CTRP7 and metabolic diseases in humans. Hence, this study was designed to explore the association between CTRP7 and MetS through a cross-sectional study and multiple intervention studies.MethodsA total of 624 individuals were enrolled in this study. The levels of CTRP7 and APN were determined by ELISA kit. HEC, OGTT and lipid infusion were performed in heathy individuals to investigate the association of CTRP7 and glucose, insulin and FFA. Bioinformatics analysis was then undertaken to identify genes and signaling pathways associated with CTRP7. The relationship between CTRP7 with MetS components was also evaluated.ResultsIn MetS patients, serum CTRP7 concentrations were significantly higher than in healthy controls, and was positively correlated with WC, BP, FBG, 2h-BG and TG, but negatively correlated with HDL-C and APN. Multivariate logistic regression analysis uncovered that CTRP7 was strongly correlated with the occurrence of MetS. In addition, circulating levels of CTRP7 in patients with two or more MetS components were higher than those with one MetS component. In the intervention studies, OGTTs resulted in a significant reduction in serum CTRP7 concentration. However, the increase in insulin levels caused by EHC and the increase of FFA caused by lipid-infusion led to the significant increase of serum CTRP7 concentration. Meanwhile, bioinformatics analysis revealed that CTRP7 was strongly associated with metabolism-related genes and signal pathways, which further illustrate the association of CTRP7 with whole-body metabolism.ConclusionsSerum CTRP7 is increased in MetS patients, which may be a biomarker related to metabolic diseases.Clinical Trial Registration NumberChiCTR2000032878

The objective of this study was to observe the antihypertensive effect of losartan and levamlodipine besylate on insulin resistance in patients with essential hypertension (EH) combined with isolated impaired fasting glucose (i-IFG). Patients (n=244) were randomly assigned to losartan potassium tablets (50-100 mg per day) or levamlodipine besylate tablets (2.5-5.0 mg per day) for intensive antihypertensive treatment with no lifestyle interventions for 3 years. The changes in fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin (FINS) and insulin sensitivity index (ISI) from before to after treatment were observed. Blood pressure (BP) in each group was significantly reduced by treatment (P<0.05). After 12 months of treatment, the FINS level in the losartan potassium group was significantly decreased and ISI was significantly increased compared with before treatment (P<0.05) and compared with the levamlodipine besylate group (P<0.05). After 24 and 36 months of treatment, FINS was significantly decreased and ISI was significantly improved in both groups compared with baseline (P<0.05), and there was no difference between the groups (P>0.05). The incidence of new-onset diabetes mellitus was not significantly different between two groups. The antihypertensive effect of losartan and levamlodipine besylate could amoliorate insulin resistance in patients with EH combined with i-IFG. The improvement of insulin resistance by losartan potassium at 12 months might be better than that by levamlodipine besylate; however, after 24 and 36 months of follow-up, both agents significantly alleviated insulin resistance. These results suggest that the effects of these two drugs on insulin resistance are not significantly different.