Decreased levels of liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide-2 and ghrelin are related to insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract

Liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP-2) is a newly identified peptide hormone involved in glucose metabolism. It acts as a noncompetitive antagonist of ghrelin hormone’s receptor. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common metabolic and reproductive disease associated with insulin resistance. We aimed to compare circulating LEAP-2 levels in subjects with PCOS and controls. We also focused to determine whether there was a relationship between LEAP-2 and metabolic parameters in women with PCOS. We enrolled 64 subjects with PCOS and 64 age and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls into the current cross-sectional study. Circulating LEAP-2 and ghrelin levels were measured via ELISA method. Metabolic and hormonal parameters of the involved subjects were analyzed. We found that circulating LEAP-2 and ghrelin levels were decreased in women with PCOS as compared with controls. LEAP-2 showed a positively independent association with ghrelin while LEAP-2 exhibited an inverse association with insulin resistance, BMI, and free-androgen index (FAI). Additionally, subjects having the lowest tertile of LEAP-2 were in positive link of developing PCOS risk with respect to those subjects having the highest tertile of LEAP-2 levels. Decreased LEAP-2 levels were associated with a high possibility of having PCOS risk associated with insulin resistance.

摘要

肝脏表达的抗菌肽-2（LEAP-2）是一种新发现的参与糖代谢的肽类激素。是胃饥饿素受体的非竞争性受体拮抗剂。多囊卵巢综合征是一种常见的与胰岛素抵抗相关的代谢性生殖疾病。我们旨在比较PCOS患者和对照组循环中LEAP-2的水平。我们还关注PCOS女性LEAP-2和代谢指标之间是否相关。该横断面研究共纳入了64名PCOS患者和64名年龄及体重指数都匹配的对照。采用ELISA测定循环LEAP-2和胃饥饿素水平。分析相关受试者的代谢和激素指标。我们发现, 与对照相比多囊卵巢综合征女性循环中LEAP-2和胃饥饿素水平降低。LEAP-2与胃饥饿素呈正相关, 而与胰岛素抵抗、BMI和游离雄激素指数呈负相关。此外,与LEAP-2处于上1/3水平的受试者相比,LEAP-2处于下1/3水平的受试者与罹患多囊卵巢综合征的风险呈正相关。LEAP-2水平降低与罹患胰岛素抵抗相关的PCOS高风险相关。

The Chinese abstracts are translated by Prof. Dr. Xiangyan Ruan and her team: Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100026, China.

Keywords:

• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• LEAP-2
• ghrelin
• insulin resistance
• body mass index

Compliance with ethical standards

The subjects gave their oral and written informed consent before their inclusion in the study. The study adhered strictly to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki as revised in 2008.

Author contributions

B.A., M.A. and I.D. participated in study design and B.A. performed ELISA. B.A., M.A. and I.D participated in study design, analyzed the data, wrote, reviewed, edited the manuscript, provided serum samples and contributed to discussions of data interpretation. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript. B.A. is the guarantor of this work and, as such, had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.