Different adipokines secreted from adipose tissue, exert a range of physiological
effects. The aim of present systematic review and meta-analysis was to
critically investigate the consequence of bariatric surgery on circulating
adipokines, that is, adiponectin, leptin, visfatin, resistin, plasminogen
activator inhibitor, and chemerin. After systematically checking the following
electronic databases: ISI web of Science, Scopus and PubMed without limitation
in time and language up to February 2019, a pool based on a random effect model
was established. Eighty-five eligible studies were entered for quantitative
analysis. Our meta-analysis revealed that circulating adiponectin increased
significantly after bariatric surgery [Standardized mean difference
(SMD)=1.401, 95% CI: 1.101, 1.701, p<0.001]; whilst
leptin (SMD=–2.178, 95% CI: –2.433,
–1.923, p<0.001), PAI-1 (–14.928 ng/ml
95% CI: –21.794, –8.063, p<0.001), and chemerin
(–50.238 ng/ml 95% CI: –85.708,
–14.768, p<0.001) decreased. However, serum visfatin
(2.05 ng/ml, 95% CI: –5.07, 9.17,
p=0.573) and resistin (–2.080 ng/ml, 95%
CI: –5.352, 1.192, p=0.21) were unchanged. In conclusion,
bariatric surgery is associated with a reduction in specific adipokines
including leptin, chemerin, and PAI-1, whereas adiponectin is raised,
adaptations that could be indicative of improved fat mass and function.