Serum levels of hormones regulating appetite in patients with cystic fibrosis − a single-center, cross-sectional study

Abstract

Cystic fibrosis (CF), which is the most common inherited genetically determined disease caused by a mutation in the gene for the CF transmembrane conductance regulator protein. Pulmonary failure is the leading cause of death in this population, while the dysregulation of endocrine system creates significant disorders, including malnutrition, underweight, and CF-related diabetes. Therefore, the objective of our study was to determine the following hormones in the serum of patients with CF: ghrelin, putative peptide YY (PYY), Agouti-signaling protein (ASP), and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH). To our knowledge, serum levels of PYY, ASP, and α-MSH have not yet been assessed in CF. For this purpose, we measured hormone levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in 38 patients from the local CF care center, as well as 16 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. Moreover, we estimated the correlations between the tested hormones and the parameters of the patients’ clinical status. In this study, we found sinificantly reduced serum levels of ghrelin and ASP in patients with CF (p<0.01). There was no difference in PYY and α-MSH levels between participants with CF and healthy subjects. Furthermore, there was no difference in hormone levels between females and males with CF. The type of gene mutation (homozygous or heterozygous for ΔF508) had no effect on hormone levels. Ghrelin was negatively correlated with age, body mass index, and C-reactive protein. PYY was negatively associated with the age of the patients. Hormone dysregulation in CF may contribute to decreased appetite, as well as many other disturbed processes. Therefore, ghrelin appears to play a key role in the regulation of energy management of CF. Future multicenter and multidisciplinary studies should focus on an unequivocal understanding of the role of these hormones in CF.

Serum Levels of Hormones Regulating Appetite in Patients with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

“…The study in cattle also confirmed associations between ASP expression and fat deposition [55]. Our previous study has shown that the concentration of ASP is reduced in serum from cystic fibrosis patients, whose nutritional status and BMI were lower compared to healthy controls [56]. However, we did not observe statistically significant differences in ASP levels between patients with FASD and the controls.…”

“…To our knowledge, no studies have investigated the correlation between NPY, ASP, α-MSH, KISS1, and clinical data in FASD. We found positive associations of ASP with age and ACTH level, but so far, no correlation between ASP and patient clinical data has been described in the literature, except our recent study in cystic fibrosis patients, which did not show a correlation with age or other clinical parameters [56]. We also found a strong positive correlation between ASP and POMC (R = 0.691, p < 0.001) and negative with α-MSH (R = −0.316, p = 0.013).…”

Serum Appetite-Regulating Hormone Levels in Cystic Fibrosis Patients: Influence of the Disease Severity and the Type of Bacterial Infection—A Pilot Study

“…There are few reports in the literature that describe the impact of the severity of the disease and bacterial infections on the level of appetite-regulating hormones. Data mainly concern ghrelin and leptin, whose levels are disrupted as lung function declines [13][14][15]. In addition to ghrelin and leptin, several other hormones are involved in the regulation of appetite.…”