Adiponectin/leptin ratio predicts the remission of metabolic syndrome: A pilot study.

Background: Adipokines are key mediators of inflammation in metabolic syndrome perpetuating the effect of excess nutrient intake by setting a self-maintaining vicious circle. Here, we assess levels of adiponectin and leptin in a cohort of individuals with MetS undergoing dietary and behavioral counselling. Specifically, we investigate their role as predictors of metabolic syndrome remission after 1 year.
Methods: Patients with MetS (n = 127) received behavioral and dietary recommendations and were followed-up for 1 year. Serum was available for 108 individuals, levels of adiponectin and leptin were tested at baseline, at 6 months (t1) and after 1 year (t2). Adiponectin/leptin (A/L) ratio was also calculated and tested for predictive ability.
Result: At the end of the follow-up period, 59 patients did not show enough criteria to define MetS anymore. When considered alone, adiponectin and leptin levels did not show difference over follow-up. Their ratio instead was significantly reduced at t1 and t2 with respect to baseline. Remitters also showed lowers level of leptin and A/L ratio as compared to non-remitters at t1. At this timepoint, A/L ratio independently predicted MetS remission at 1 year [OR 9.082 95%CI (1.394-59.160), p = 0.021]. Bootstrap resampling analysis internally validated our findings.
Conclusions: Preliminary results from our pilot study suggest that MetS remission after counselling associates with changes in adipokine balance. A/L ratio decreases overtime and its value at 6 months can independently predict MetS remission.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest LL is coinventors on the International Patent (WO/2020/226993) filed in April 2020 and relating to the use of antibodies which specifically bind IL-1α to reduce various sequelae of ischemia–reperfusion injury to the central nervous system. LL has received speaker fees outside of this work from Daichi-Sankyo. AB received honoraria from Effetti s.r.l. (Milan, Italy) to collaborate on the medical website www.inflammology.org, outside the present work. S.K. declares research grants to the institution from the Jubiläumsstiftung SwissLife, the Lindenhof Foundation, the Novartis Foundation for Medical-biological Research, the Swiss Heart Foundation, the Swiss Society of Cardiology, and the Theodor-Ida-Herzog-Egli Foundation, and equipment and materials from Roche Diagnostics outside the submitted work. Further, he has received travel support from the European Atherosclerosis Society, the European Society of Cardiology, the European Society of Clinical Investigation, Sphingotec GmbH, the 4TEEN4 Pharmaceuticals GmbH, and PAM Theragnostics GmbH. The other authors report no conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)