Characterization of serum irisin in patients with severe acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND: Irisin, as a novel and versatile hormone secreted by skeletal myocytes and fat tissues, is reported to be involved in inflammation-related diseases; one of the main characteristics of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is inflammatory responses. This study aims to describe the characteristics of irisin in SAP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Here, we enrolled 50 controls, 20 with no acute pancreatitis (AP), 20 AP, and 12 SAP patients, determined white blood cell, blood glucose, C-reactive protein, urine amylase, blood lipase, and serum irisin using an analyzer and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at the indicated time-points, analyzed the correlations of irisin with blood glucose, sex, and age, and then predicted the morality and complications of organ failure and/or exacerbations of comorbidities in SAP by irisin. RESULTS: The results showed no significant difference in all groups in the clinical parameters (P>0.05), except that white blood cell was significantly higher in no AP, AP, and SAP than the controls (P 0.05). In addition, the correlation between irisin levels and blood glucose was better in the SAP group than that between irisin levels and age in SAP patients and controls, although a relatively better correlation was found in SAP patients than the controls. Finally, the prognostic significance of mortality and complications of SAP according to irisin levels represented significantly, especially for complications of organ failure and/or exacerbations of comorbidities in female SAP. CONCLUSION: Therefore, serum irisin level has unique characteristics and may be an independent factor and useful to predict the mortality, and complications in SAP patients, especially in female SAP patients.