Estimation of Serum Vaspin Levels in Humans as a Novel and Therapeutic Biomarker of Visceral Obesity

ABSTRACT

Background: Obesity is associated with metabolic complications and significantly increases the risk of developing insulin resistance. Visceral fat is potentially dangerous as it is the major player in the adverse metabolic consequences of obesity. In this context, one of the recently discovered and interesting adipokines that provide a new insight into the physiology, pathology, and treatment of obesity is vaspin. Vaspin is a visceral adipose tissue-derived serine protease inhibitor with insulin-sensitizing effects and its upregulation in obese individuals may be a defensive and a protective mechanism aimed to reduce insulin resistance in humans. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to determine the circulating serum vaspin levels in humans with visceral obesity to assess its association and link to obesity-related metabolic alterations. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study consisting of 120 obese subjects in the age group of 30–55 years having a body mass index (BMI) of ≥35 (Group I) and another 120 subjects of the same age group with a normal range BMI (Group II) was done with their measures of obesity and serum vaspin levels measured. Results: The obese subjects (Group I) showed significant differences in the BMI, measures of obesity, and the serum vaspin levels (P ˂ 0.001). Pearson’s correlation revealed that the serum vaspin levels were positively correlated with the measures of obesity. Conclusion: From this study, it can be demonstrated that vaspin may be used as a circulating biomarker for early identification of obesity-related metabolic alterations and vaspin also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of obesity and its related metabolic disorders.