OBJECTIVETo investigate the alteration of serum resistin levels in normal pregnancy and preeclampsia.

METHODSBlood samples were take from 28 normal non-pregnant women, 27 women in the 1st, 26 in the 2nd and 26 in the 3rd trimester of normal pregnancy and 25 women with preeclampsia. Serum resistin concentration was determined using ELISA method.

RESULTSerum levels of resistin were not significantly different among non-pregnancy, the 1st and the 2nd trimester of pregnancy (P>0.05 for all). Serum resistin level was significantly elevated in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy as compared with non-pregnancy (P<0.01), the 1st (P<0.001) and the 2nd trimester of pregnancy (P<0.001). Serum resistin level was significantly lower in preeclampsia than in the 3rd trimester of normal pregnancy (P<0.001), but was comparable to that of non-pregnancy, the 1st and the 2nd trimester of pregnancy (P>0.05 for all).

CONCLUSIONThe decrease of serum resistin level in the preeclampsia may provide insight into the pathogenesis of the disease.

Adult ; Female ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Humans ; Pre-Eclampsia ; blood ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; blood ; Resistin ; blood

Adult ; Aged ; Anthracosis ; blood ; Humans ; Leptin ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Resistin ; blood

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) comprises a large part of chronic liver diseases. Recently it was reported that adipokines are closely associated with the common risk factors for NAFLD, such as obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance. We aimed to evaluate the changes in serum adiponectin, resistin and leptin concentrations related to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevations in Korean men with NAFLD. METHODS: We studies 38 men who were diagnosed with fatty liver by abdominal ultrasonography. None had a history of excessive alcohol consumption, autoimmune hepatitis, inherited or metabolic liver disease or viral hepatitis. The subjects were divided into two groups. One group had normal levels of ALT (n=28) and the other had increased ALT (n=10). We compared anthropometrical parameters, biochemical items and serum adipokine levels between these two groups. RESULTS: Serum adiponectin levels were lower in the increased ALT group than in the normal ALT group (3.89 +/- 1.77 vs 7.01 +/- 2.54 microgram/dL, P=0.001). But there were no significant differences in serum leptin and resistin levels between two groups (4.02 +/- 2.04 vs 3.26 +/- 1.41 ng/mL, p=0.245, 80.14 +/- 14.8 vs 80.5 +/- 11.34 ng/mL, P=0.937, respectively). Multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated that the serum adiponectin level is inversely correlated with serum ALT level and that the serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level is positively correlated with the serum ALT level. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that hypoadiponectinemia is associated with an ALT elevation in patients with NAFLD. Adiponectin may play an indirect role in the development of NAFLD.
Resistin/blood ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Leptin/blood ; Humans ; Fatty Liver/*blood ; Alanine Transaminase/*blood ; Aged ; Adiponectin/blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between serum resistin level and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or stable angina pectoris (SAP).

METHODSSixty-five patients, with coronary artery disease, were enrolled and divided into three subgroups: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and SAP, and 26 healthy people were recruited as controls in the cross-sectional study. Serum resistin levels were determined by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), and WBC (white blood cell count), hsCRP (high sensitive C-reaction protein), CK(max) (maximum of creatinkinase), CK-MB(max) (maximum of isozyme of creatinkinase) and cTnI(max) (maximum of troponin) were measured by standard laboratory methods.

RESULTSThe serum resistin levels were 4 folds higher in AMI patients, 2.43 folds in UAP patients and 1.12 folds in SAP patients than in the healthy controls (P<0.05). The resistin levels were also significantly different between AMI [(8.16+/-0.79) ng/ml], UAP [(5.59+/-0.75) ng/ml] and SAP [(3.45+/-0.56) ng/ml] groups (P<0.01); WBC, hsCRP, CK(max), CK-MB(max) and cTnI(max) were significantly increased in AMI patients over UAP and SAP patients. Spearman analysis showed that serum resistin levels were positively correlated with WBC (r=0.412, P=0.046), hsCRP (r=0.427, P=0.037), CK(max), CK-MB(max) and cTnI(max) (r=0.731, 0.678, 0.656; P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSerum resistin levels increased with inflammatory factors and myocardial impairment. The results suggest that human resistin might play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and AMI as an inflammatory factor.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; blood ; Angina Pectoris ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; blood ; Resistin ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between serum resistin concentration and large arterial elasticity in patients with essential hypertension (EH).

METHODS271 recruited subjects were divided into the control group (n = 134) and EH group (n = 137). Blood pressure, waist circumference, hip, body mass index (BMI) were measured. Serum resistin concentration was assessed by enzyme immunoassay, fasting serum insulin and TNF-alpha were measured using radioimmunity kits. Insulin resistance was evaluated by insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was tested by the full-automatic arteriosclerosis diagnostic instrument.

RESULTS(1) The serum resistin concentration, baPWV and TNF-alpha were significantly increased in EH group compared to the control group [(0.65 +/- 0.12) microg/L vs (0.59 +/- 0.13) microg/L; (1513.24 +/- 182.30) cm/s vs (1301.69 +/- 151.15) cm/s; (5.69 +/- 1.98) microg/L vs (3.83 +/- 2.38) microg/L; all P < 0.01]. (2) Pearson correlation analysis showed that resistin was positively correlated with baPWV, TNF-alpha. and HOMA-IR in EH group (r = 0.219, r = 0.212, r = 0.183, P < 0.05 respectively); partial correlation analysis revealed that resistin was positively correlated with baPWV and TNF-alpha (r = 0.238, P < 0.01; r = 0.207, P < 0.05), but not with HOMA-IR. (3) Multivariate regression analysis showed that SBP, age, TNF-alpha, resistin were risk factors of impaired baPWV in EH group (R(2) = 0.368, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONLarge arterial elasticity was decreased in proportion to increasing serum resistin level in hypertensive patients.

Ankle Brachial Index ; Blood Flow Velocity ; Elasticity ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Insulin Resistance ; Pulsatile Flow ; Resistin

OBJECTIVETo study effects of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction (HJD) on lipid metabolism, leptin and resistin in insulin resistive rats.

METHODSType 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) rat model was induced by intravenous injection with a low dose of streptozotocin and high fat and high caloric diet, and randomized into four groups: the model control group, the HJD group, the berberine group and the aspirin group. Meanwhile 16 normal rats were assigned as the normal control group. The body weight was observed before and after treatment, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein A1 and B (apoA1, apoB), free fatty acid (FFA), insulin (INS) in serum, skeletal muscle triglyceride (mTG) in skeletal muscle, and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were detected after 10 weeks of treatment, at the same time, serum levels of leptin and resistin were determined using ELLISA.

RESULTSThe levels of TC, TG, apoB, FBG, FFA, mTG, leptin and resistin were obviously lowered, the levels of HDL-C and apoA1 significantly raised, glucose tolerance improved and body weight reduced in insulin resistive rats, as compared with the model control (P<0.05, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe effects of HJD in lowering lipids, as well as reducing leptin and resistin might be closely correlated with its effects in ameliorating insulin resistance.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Insulin Resistance ; Leptin ; blood ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Resistin ; blood

Resistin, a newly discovered peptide hormone mainly secreted by adipose tissues, is present at high levels in serum of obese mice and may be a potential link between obesity and insulin resistance in rodents. However, some studies of rat and mouse models have associated insulin resistance and obesity with decreased resistin expression. In humans, no relationship between resistin level and insulin resistance or adiposity was observed. This suggests that additional studies are necessary to determine the specific role of resistin in the regulation of energy metabolism and adipogenesis. In the present study, we investigated the effect of resistin in vivo on glucose and lipid metabolism by over-expressing resistin in mice by intramuscular injection of a recombinant eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1-Retn encoding porcine resistin gene. After injection, serum resistin and serum glucose (GLU) levels were significantly increased in the pcDNA3.1-Retn-treated mice; there was an obvious difference in total cholesterol (TC) level between the experiment and the control groups on Day 30. In pcDNA3.1-Retn-treated mice, both free fatty acid (FFA) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels were markedly lower than those of control, whereas HDL cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) levels did not differ between the two groups. Furthermore, lipase activity was expressly lower on Day 20. Our data suggest that resistin over-expressed in mice might be responsible for insulin resistance and parameters related to glucose and lipid metabolism were changed accordingly.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; analysis ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified ; blood ; Glucose ; metabolism ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Lipid Metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Resistin ; blood ; physiology ; Triglycerides ; blood

BACKGROUNDSome studies have shown that serum resistin levels increase in hypertensive patients. Whether the increase of resistin is related to inflammatory or vascular endothelial function is still unknown. We investigated the relationship of increased resistin levels to inflammatory factors and circulating biomarkers of vascular endothelial function in hypertensive patients.

METHODSOne hundred and forty-four nondiabetic patients with new onset, hypertension were recruited. Blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin, resistin, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), von Willebrand factor (vWF), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) were measured. The homeostasis model assessment, insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Patients were divided into two groups according to the median level of resistin. Cytokine levels and indicators of vascular endothelial function were compared. Multiple linear regression was used to determine factors influencing resistin.

RESULTSSerum resistin ranged from 2.57 ng/ml to 20.18 ng/ml in hypertensive patients. High resistin group (> 8.36 ng/ml) had higher levels of TNF-α, IL-6, vWF and ET-1 but lower level of NO compared with low resistin group (P < 0.01). Resistin was positively correlated with body mass index, systolic blood pressure, HOMA-IR, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, TNF-α and ET-1 but negatively correlated with NO (all P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that HOMA-IR, TNF-α, NO and ET-1 are independent predictors of resistin with standardized regression coefficients of 0.625, 0.368, -0.260 and 0.222, respectively (all P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSWe conclude that higher resistin levels are associated with inflammatory activation and endothelial dysfunction, because patients with essential hypertension have increased TNF-α, IL-6, vWF and ET-1 and decreased NO. Moreover, the statistical association of resistin with TNF-α, NO and ET-1 suggests involvement of resistin in the progression of hypertension by influencing inflammation and endothelial function.

Endothelin-1 ; blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Hypertension ; blood ; Inflammation ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Resistin ; blood ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of quercetin on serum levels of resistin and interleukin (IL)-18 and incidence of insulin resistance (IR) in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using a rat model.

METHODSNAFLD was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by administering a high-fat diet for four weeks. The model rats were then treated with quercetin (oral gavage administration; low dose group: 75 mg/kg/day, high dose group: 300 mg/kg/day) for eight weeks. Untreated model rats served as controls. Serum levels of resistin, triglyceride (TG), IL-18, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured by standard biochemical assays before and after the quercetin administration. In addition, the insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was calculated and pathological changes in liver were observed by histological analysis.

RESULTSCompared to the untreated model rats, the quercetin treated model rats showed significantly lower serum resistin (5.98 vs. 2.70), serum IL-18 (10.93 vs. 8.21), FPG (7.45 vs. 4.99), FINS (12.69 vs. 8.59), and HOMA-IR (4.22 vs. 1.87) (all P less than 0.01). Compared to the untreated model group, the high dose group showed significantly lower TG (t = 4.70) and MDA (t = 5.14) (both P less than 0.01). Serum levels of resistin and IL-18, and levels of TG, FPG and FINS were found to be positively correlated with HOMA-IR and the degree of liver disease (r more than 0, all P less than 0.05). The degree of degeneration was decreased in accordance with the dosages of quercetin, as compared to the untreated model group (U = 4.41 and 2.19, both P less than 0.05), and the pathological degree was less extensive in the high dose group than in the low dose group (U = 2.44, P less than 0.01).

CONCLUSIONQuercetin treatment reduces levels of inflammatory cytokines and improves lipid peroxidation and IR in NAFLD rats, and its beneficial effects appear to increase with higher dosage.

Animals ; Insulin Resistance ; Interleukin-18 ; blood ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Quercetin ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Resistin

OBJECTIVETo determine serum levels of resistin and visfatin in the patients with acute Kawasaki disease before and after intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) treatment.

METHODSA total of 50 children with acute Kawasaki disease were treated with IVIG for 48 hours between January 2011 and January 2013. As controls, 30 healthy children and 30 children with acute infectious diseases were included. Serum levels of resistin and visfatin were measured by ELISA both before and after the treatment.

RESULTSThe baseline serum levels of resistin and visfatin were significantly higher in patients with acute Kawasaki disease than in the two control groups of subjects (i.e., healthy children and patients with acute infectious diseases; P<0.05). In the 50 patients with Kawasaki disease, 38 were not responding and 12 were responding. Serum resistin levels before treatment were significantly higher in non-responders than those in responders (P<0.05). A significant decrease in serum levels of resistin after treatment was observed in IVIG responders (P<0.05). Serum visfatin levels were not significantly different between IVIG responders and non-responders (P>0.05). Additionally, serum resistin and visfatin levels were not significantly different between acute Kawasaki disease patients with and without coronary artery lesions.

CONCLUSIONSResistin and visfatin may play important roles in the development of Kawasaki disease and serum resistin may be used as a novel outcome indicator of the IVIG treatment.

Acute Disease ; Child, Preschool ; Cytokines ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; therapeutic use ; Infant ; Male ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; blood ; drug therapy ; Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase ; blood ; Resistin ; blood