BACKGROUNDVaspin is a newly-identified adipocytokine related to obesity and insulin sensitivity. However, its pathophysiologic role in humans remains largely unknown. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between serum vaspin level and glucose metabolism or obesity in Chinese adults.

METHODSA total of 123 subjects, including 84 subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and 39 subjects with diabetes, were enrolled in this study. Anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat areas, plasma glucose concentration, serum insulin, lipids, and vaspin level were measured in each participant.

RESULTSSerum vaspin concentration was significantly higher in diabetic patients than that in NGT subjects (592 (438 - 695) pg/ml vs 380 (294 - 517) pg/ml, P = 0.020) in women. In all participants, age, fasting plasma glucose concentration (FPG), 2-hour post-load plasma glucose (PG2h), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) significantly increased from the lower tertile to the higher tertile of vaspin. Univariate linear regression analyses revealed that vaspin level was only positively correlated with age (beta = 0.340, P = 0.002) in NGT subjects. And vaspin was positively associated with FPG (beta = 0.365, P = 0.023), PG2h (beta = 0.526, P = 0.001), HbA1c (beta = 0.388, P = 0.016), and HDL-c (beta = 0.353, P = 0.027), while negatively with homeostasis model assessment of beta cell function (HOMA-beta) (beta = -0.361, P = 0.024) in diabetic patients. In stepwise multivariate regression analyses, age was independently associated with circulating vaspin in NGT subjects, whereas PG2h was an independent predictor of vaspin in diabetic patients. In addition, there was no significant difference of serum vaspin level between men and women. And no significant correlations between vaspin and body fat indexes were detected.

CONCLUSIONSSerum vaspin level is higher in diabetic patients than that in NGT subjects in women. Age predicts serum vaspin level in NGT subjects, while PG2h is independently associated with vaspin in diabetic patients.