Correlation of serum meteorin-like concentrations with diabetic nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE Meteorin-like (Metrnl), a secreted myokine, is induced in white adipose tissue during cold exposure and in muscle after exercise. The present investigation aim to determine the hypothesis that serum Metrnl concentrations are correlated with diabetic nephropathy (DN). METHODS The investigation was performed in a population of 221 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 74 healthy subjects. T2DM patients were divided into three groups: normoalbuminuria (n=100), microalbuminuria (n=86), and macroalbuminuria (n=35) subgroups based on urine albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR). RESULTS All the three T2DM subgroups showed lower serum Metrnl concentrations compared with the controls. Serum Metrnl concentrations were significantly decreased in T2DM patients with macroalbuminuria group than in the other T2DM subgroups. In addition, T2DM patients with microalbuminuria group had decreased serum Metrnl concentrations compared with those with normoalbuminuria; however, the difference was not significant. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated a correlation between serum Metrnl and a decreased risk of T2DM and DN (OR: 0.954, 95% CI: 0.935-0.973, P<0.001 and OR: 0.981, 95% CI: 0.971-0.997, P<0.001, respectively). Simply linear regression analysis indicated a negative association between serum Metrnl and duration of disease, body mass index (BMI), HbA1c, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, uricacid, ACR, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blockers treatment. BMI, HbA1c, and ACR were still correlated with the serum Metrnl after a multiple linear regression analysis. CONCLUSION Serum Metrnl concentrations are inversely correlated with renal function and DN.