Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor level is increased and associated with obesity in newly diagnosed female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Previous studies have demonstrated that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) played a role in the eating behavior and glucose and lipid metabolism. In this study we measured the serum BDNF levels in newly diagnosed female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 24, aged 34-59 years) and female subjects with normal glucose tolerance (n = 7, aged 34-56 years). The serum BDNF level was found to significantly increase in diabetic patients in comparison to that in healthy subjects (P < .05). In these patients, the serum BDNF level showed positive correlation with the body mass index (r = 0.535, P < .01), the percentage of body fat (r = 0.552, P < .01), the subcutaneous fat area based on computed tomography scan (r = 0.480, P < .05), the triglyceride level (r = 0.470, P < .05), the fasting blood glucose level (r = 0.437, P < .05), and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance score (r = 0.506, P < .05), whereas it showed a negative correlation with age (r = -0.486, P < .05). The partial correlation coefficients adjusted by age showed significant differences regarding the body mass index (r = 0.423, P < .05), percentage of body fat (r = 0.504, P < .05), and triglyceride level (r = 0.426, P < .05). These results provide the first evidence that an increased BDNF is associated with a prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In addition, the BDNF is related to the total and abdominal subcutaneous fat mass and energy metabolism in the newly diagnosed female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The leptin to adiponectin ratio is a good biomarker for the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, dependent on visceral fat accumulation and endurance fitness in obese patients with diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the contribution of adiponectin or leptin on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS), while also taking cardiorespiratory fitness and visceral fat accumulation into account regarding diabetes patients. METHODS: Japanese male patients (n = 77) with either impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or type 2 diabetes mellitus were divided into three tertiles according to their adipocytokine levels. A logistic regression analysis was performed after adjusting for age to investigate the association between the adipocytokine levels and the prevalence of MS based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. RESULTS: The visceral fat area (VFA) and maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text] O(2)max) were found to be significantly different within the tertiles regarding the leptin and adiponectin levels and the adiponectin-to-leptin (A/L) ratio. The low tertile of leptin showed a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for prevalence of MS than that in the high group. Both the low and the medium tertiles of adiponectin showed a significantly higher OR for prevalence of SM than that of the high group. Especially, the low tertile of A/L ratio had about an eight times higher prevalence of MS than the high tertile, and the difference was significant. However, when both the VFA and/or [Formula: see text] O(2)max were added to the logistic regression model as adjusting factors, all of these significant differences disappeared. CONCLUSION: The A/L ratio is suggested to be a good biomarker for the prevalence of MS in comparison to the adiponectin and leptin levels alone. However, these relationships are dependent on abdominal fat accumulation and/or cardiorespiratory fitness levels.

Relative contributions of cardiorespiratory fitness and visceral fat to metabolic syndrome in patients with diabetes mellitus.

The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of endurance fitness and visceral fat accumulation on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Japanese male patients with either an impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The subjects of this cross-sectional study consisted of 135 Japanese male patients with either IGT or type 2 DM who had not taken any medication or intervention. They were classified into three fitness categories (low, moderate, and high) based on the tertiles of their maximal oxygen uptake ( [Formula: see text] O(2)max) predicted by the Astrand nomogram using a cycle ergometer. Metabolic syndrome was defined based on the WHO criteria. The visceral fat area (VFA) was determined using a computed tomography scan. The age- and VFA-adjusted odds ratio was 3.49 (95% CI, 1.13-10.82) for subjects in the low fitness category in comparison to those in the high fitness category. We calculated the odds ratio for the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the nine categories classified based on the three VFA and three [Formula: see text] (2)max levels. In Moderate- and Low- [Formula: see text] (2) max categories, the odds ratios increased in line with increases in the VFA level. The highest odds ratios were observed in the low fitness and high visceral fat group. In the High- [Formula: see text] O(2)max category, no significant odds ratios were observed in the Moderate- and High-VFA categories. These results indicate that a high degree of cardiorespiratory fitness positively contributed to the low prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Japanese male patients with IGT and type 2 DM.