Adropin has been identified as potent regulatory hormone implicated in insulin sensitivity and the maintenance of energy homeostasis. The aim of current study was to investigate serum adropin concentrations of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the fasting status, especially those overweight/obese and evaluate the relationships between adropin levels and metabolic parameters. A total of 116 T2DM patients and 60 controls with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) were recruited to the study. Adropin concentration was determined using commercial ELISA kits. Anthropometric characteristics were collected and biochemistry, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fasting insulin (FIns) were detected by clinical laboratory. Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostasis model 2 assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR). Serum adropin levels in Chinese T2DM patients were decreased compared with the controls [3.8 (3.0–5.5) vs. 5.5 (3.7–7.9) ng/mL, p < 0.01]. Meanwhile, overweight/obese patients had more considerably reduced levels of adropin. Adropin level was negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI), high-sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP), triglycerides (TG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), FIns, HOMA2-IR and HbA1c, while positively with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in study participants (p < 0.01). The correlations of adropin with glucolipid variables (TG, HDL-C, FPG, FIns, HOMA2-IR, HbA1c) still existed after adjusting the effect of BMI. Besides, HOMA2-IR and HbA1c were independent factors associated with serum adropin levels. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that adropin was significantly associated with T2DM after removing confounding factors (p < 0.01). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrated adropin concentration of 5.8 ng/mL could be used as a possible optimal cut-off value to identify T2DM from non-T2DM with sensitivity of 81.9% and specificity of 46.7%. Serum adropin concentrations are decreased in Chinese T2DM patients, especially those overweight/obese. Adropin, associated with glucolipid homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, may implicate in the pathogenesis of T2DM.

Objective. The aim of this study was to identify the candidate genes in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and explore their potential mechanisms. Methods. The gene expression profile GSE26168 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The online tool GEO2R was used to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed by using Metascape for annotation, visualization, and comprehensive discovery. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs was constructed by using Cytoscape software to find the candidate genes and key pathways. Results. A total of 981 DEGs were found in T2DM, including 301 upregulated genes and 680 downregulated genes. GO analyses from Metascape revealed that DEGs were significantly enriched in cell differentiation, cell adhesion, intracellular signal transduction, and regulation of protein kinase activity. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that DEGs were mainly enriched in the cAMP signaling pathway, Rap1 signaling pathway, regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and so on. On the basis of the PPI network of the DEGs, the following 6 candidate genes were identified: PIK3R1, RAC1, GNG3, GNAI1, CDC42, and ITGB1. Conclusion. Our data provide a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of genes, functions, and pathways, which may be related to the pathogenesis of T2DM.

No prospective studies have examined the association between thigh subcutaneous fat distribution and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated the associations of thigh subcutaneous fat distribution with incidence and remission of NAFLD in a community-based prospective cohort. We followed 1,787 subjects, who underwent abdominal ultrasonography, abdominal and femoral magnetic resonance imaging scans, and anthropometric assessments. Associations of thigh subcutaneous fat area/abdominal fat area ratio and thigh circumference/waist circumference ratio with incidence and remission of NAFLD were estimated using the modified Poisson regression model. Over a mean 3.6-year follow-up, 239 incident cases of NAFLD and 207 regressed cases of NAFLD were identified. Increasing thigh subcutaneous fat area/abdominal fat area ratio was associated with a lower risk of incident NAFLD and a higher likelihood of remission of NAFLD [risk ratio (RR) per SD: 0.69, 95% CI 0.59-0.81; 1.20, 95% CI 1.07-1.34, respectively). Each one SD increase in thigh circumference/waist circumference ratio was associated with a 16% lower risk of incident NAFLD (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.76-0.94) and a 22% higher likelihood of remission of NAFLD (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.11-1.34). Additionally, the effects of thigh subcutaneous fat area/abdominal fat area ratio on the incidence and remission of NAFLD were mediated through adiponectin (14.9% and 26.6%), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (9.5% and 23.9%), and triglyceride (7.5% and 19.1%). These results demonstrated that a favourable fat distribution, characterised by a greater ratio of thigh subcutaneous fat to abdominal fat, had a protective role against NAFLD. The associations of thigh subcutaneous fat distribution with NAFLD incidence and remission have not been prospectively examined in a community-based cohort. Our findings suggest that greater thigh subcutaneous fat relative to a given amount of abdominal fat has a protective effect against NAFLD among the middle-aged and older Chinese populations.