Reduced expression of chemerin in visceral adipose tissue associates with hepatic steatosis in patients with obesity

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether circulating levels and/or visceral adipose tissue (VAT) expression of recently described adipokines associate with histopathological severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), independent of obesity and insulin resistance. Methods: Serum levels of adiponectin, omentin, chemerin, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and secreted frizzled-related protein 4 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 81 patients with obesity and NAFLD and 18 lean control subjects. Expression in VAT was measured using real-time PCR and histopathological grading was scored using the NAFLD activity score (NAS). Results: When NAFLD patients were subdivided into groups with simple steatosis, borderline nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and NASH, adiponectin serum levels and omentin expression were lower in NASH versus simple steatosis patients. Serum adiponectin was generally lower with higher histopathological grading. Chemerin VAT expression was negatively associated with NAS (r 5 20.331, P 5 0.022) and steatosis score (r 5 20.335, P 5 0.020), independent of age, BMI, and HOMA-IR. In addition, adjusting for chemerin VAT expression in a multivariate model explained part of the association between NAS and HOMA-IR. Conclusions: These findings suggest that lower VAT expression of chemerin in patients with obesity may be involved in the pathophysiology of hepatic steatosis, potentially by modulating the link between insulin resistance and NAFLD.

Adipokines and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Multiple Interactions

“…In this study, hepatic chemerin expression did not relate to the degree of fibrosis and expression was even reduced in case of NASH. A lower visceral adipose tissue expression of chemerin was also observed in another NAFLD cohort [ 98 ]. Therefore, it currently remains unclear which role this adipokine plays in human NAFLD.…”

The relation between body fat distribution, plasma concentrations of adipokines and the metabolic syndrome in patients with clinically manifest vascular disease

“…Chemerin was negatively related to VAT in patients with hepatic steatosis, suggesting a modulating function of chemerin in the link between insulin resistance and steatosis. 35 A similar function of chemerin in atherosclerotic patients could be present, explaining the negative relation between VAT and chemerin. Also, in a general population with approximately 10% DM2, an inverse association between anthropometric measurements and resistin plasma levels was found.…”

“…The positive relation between plasma concentrations of leptin and the metabolic syndrome has been demonstrated in patients with the metabolic syndrome. 38 Elevated leptin concentrations are related to both WC 35 , 39 and insulin resistance, even in euglycemic patients. 40 The relation between HGF and the metabolic syndrome was previously also shown in 1474 healthy subjects.…”

The novel adipokine WISP1 associates with insulin resistance and impairs insulin action in human myotubes and mouse hepatocytes

“…We recruited 33 normal-weight men and 102 obese men, of whom 46 had type 2 diabetes according to the American Diabetes Association criteria [16], from the Obster [17] and HepObster [18] cohort. Obese men were scheduled for bariatric surgery, whereas normal-weight men were scheduled for elective surgery in the abdominal region.…”