Title:Serum adropin levels, visceral adiposity index and DNA damage as risk factors associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese women

Author:Moushira Zaki, Hend M Tawfeek, Safaa M Youssef Morsy, Safinaz El-Toukh and Eman R Youness

Abstract:Background: Numerous non-invasive biomarkers have been used to avert liver biopsy in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Adropin plays an important role in metabolic homeostasis. Nevertheless, the clinical relevance of adropin to the visceral adiposity and NAFLD is ambiguous. NAFLD is a recurrent disease among overweight and obese individuals; however, some studies have reported prevalence of NAFLD in lean subjects.
Objectives: Our objective was to inspect the relationship between adropin, DNA damage and body characteristics in NAFLD patients and obese healthy controls.
Methods: This study examined 40 healthy obese premenopausal women without NAFLD and 40 age matched obese women with NAFLD. Serum adropin levels, metabolic parameters and anthropometric parameters were investigated. The Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) was calculated. DNA damage was assessed by comet assay.
Results: NAFLD patients showed significantly lower circulating serum adropin and higher VAI, and waist to hip ratio (WHR) compared to controls. Furthermore, serum adropin concentrations were negatively correlated with obesity-related parameters and serum lipids and DNA damage was observed
Conclusions: NAFLD patients showed significantly lower adropin levels than obese healthy controls and could be a prospective marker for prediction of the development of NAFLD, specially for persons with high visceral fat accumulation and DNA damage.
Keywords: adropin, obesity, DNA damage, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, visceral adiposity index.
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