Adipokines at the crossroad between obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective: Investigate serum levels of chemerin, apelin, betatrophin and leptin adipokines and HsCRP in obese and non-obese patients either prediabetic or diabetic and correlate their levels with other biochemical parameters of IR. Additionally, studying the effect of their combinations on the sensitivity of investigation for the development and/or progression of T2DM. Subjects: serum levels of adipokines were analyzed using ELISA technique in 160 subjects. Results: Serum Chemerin, Apelin and HsCRP levels were significantly higher in all obese groups compared to non-obese of the same group.Serum levels of both betatrophin & HsCRP were positively correlated with glycemic indices (FPG, A1c, HOMA-IR). Serum levels of chemerin were positively correlated with FPG, A1c. Serum Chemerin, betatrophin, HsCRP all showed negative correlation with HOMA-? level. The combination of different markers improved their sensitivity of detection, with the highest level of sensitivity shown between betatrophin with HsCRP. Conclusion: these results indicate crucial roles played by the studied adipokines and HsCRP in IR caused by obesity and consequently T2DM development. Combination of Betatrophin and HsCRP can be an early sensitive predictor for IR occurrence in obese patients. These adipokines may be targets for the development of therapies to treat or inhibit IR associated to obesity. Keywords: Obesity, Insulin resistance, T2DM, Adipokines, Combined sensitivity.