Serum fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4) concentration is associated with insulin resistance in peripheral tissues, A clinical study

PLoS One. 2017 Jun 27;12(6):e0179737. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179737. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is caused by insulin resistance and β cell dysfunction. In recent studies reported that several markers associated with insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle, Adiponectin and other parameters, such as fatty acid-binding protein (FABP4), have been reported to regulate insulin resistance, but it remains unclear which factor mostly affects insulin resistance in T2DM. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the relationships between several kinds of biomarkers and insulin resistance, and insulin secretion in T2DM and healthy controls. We recruited 30 participants (12 T2DM and 18 non-diabetic healthy controls). Participants underwent a meal tolerance test during which plasma glucose, insulin and serum C-peptide immunoreactivity were measured. We performed a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp and measured the glucose-disposal rate (GDR). The fasting serum levels of adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor-1, irisin, autotaxin, FABP4 and interleukin-6 were measured by ELISA. We found a strong negative correlation between FABP4 concentration and GDR in T2DM (r = -0.657, p = 0.020). FABP4 also was positively correlated with insulin secretion during the meal tolerance test in T2DM (IRI (120): r = 0.604, p = 0.038) and was positively related to the insulinogenic index in non-DM subjects (r = 0.536, p = 0.022). Autotaxin was also related to GDR. However, there was no relationship with insulin secretion. We found that serum FABP4 concentration were associated with insulin resistance and secretion in T2DM. This suggests that FABP4 may play an important role in glucose homeostasis.

MeSH terms

  • Adiponectin / blood
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Blood Glucose*
  • C-Peptide / blood
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / blood*
  • Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / blood*
  • Female
  • Fibronectins / blood
  • Humans
  • Insulin / blood*
  • Insulin Resistance / physiology*
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / metabolism
  • Interleukin-6 / blood
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases / blood
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Adiponectin
  • Blood Glucose
  • C-Peptide
  • FABP4 protein, human
  • FNDC5 protein, rat
  • Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins
  • Fibronectins
  • Insulin
  • Interleukin-6
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
  • Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases
  • alkylglycerophosphoethanolamine phosphodiesterase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) grant number 26870373 (2014–2015), JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) grant number 16K08935 (2016-), the Japan Diabetes Foundation (2013), grants for young researchers from the Japan Association for Diabetes Education and Care (2013, 2014). This work also supported by the MSD research grant (2013, 2015).