Abstract
BackgroundBoth diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity are common in cats. The adipokines leptin, adiponectin, resistin and omentin are thought to have important roles in human obesity and glucose homeostasis; however, their functions in the pathophysiology of feline diabetes mellitus and obesity are poorly understood. We determined whether sexual dimorphism exists for circulating concentrations of these adipokines, whether they are associated with adiposity, and whether they correlate with basic indices of insulin sensitivity in cats. Healthy, client-owned male and female cats that were either ideal weight or obese were recruited into the study. Fasting blood glucose, fructosamine, cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin and plasma concentrations of adipokines were evaluated.ResultsObese cats had greater serum concentrations of glucose and triglycerides than ideal weight cats, but fructosamine and cholesterol concentrations did not differ between groups. Body weight and body mass index were greater in male than female cats, but circulating metabolite cocentrations were similar between sexes of both the ideal weight and obese groups. Plasma concentrations of insulin and leptin were greater in obese than ideal weight cats, with reciprocal reduction in adiponectin concentrations in obese cats; there were no sex differences in these hormones. Interestingly, plasma omentin concentrations were greater in male than female cats but with no differences between obese and ideal weight states.ConclusionTogether our findings suggest that rather than gender, body weight and adiposity are more important determinants of circulating concentrations of the adipokines leptin and adiponectin. On the contrary, the adipokine omentin is not affected by body weight or adiposity but instead exhibits sexual dimorphism in cats.
Highlights
Both diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity are common in cats
Plasma omentin concentrations did not differ between ideal weight and obese cats (P = 0.71)
Body weight (0.92), body fat% (0.90), body condition score (BCS) (0.88), body mass index (BMI) (0.87), insulin (0.64), triglycerides (0.59), glucose (0.46) and adiponectin (− 0.53) loaded heavily on the first component which likely reflects the obese status. This is further supported by the positive regression (r2 = 0.221 to 0.314) of insulin on body measures, negative regression (r2 = 0.284 to 0.256) of adiponectin on body measures, and very weak regression of leptin (r2 = 0.021–0.041), resistin (r2 = 0.0014 to 0.012) and omentin (r2 = 0.028 to 0.1332), on the body measures (Fig. 5)
Summary
Both diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity are common in cats. The adipokines leptin, adiponectin, resistin and omentin are thought to have important roles in human obesity and glucose homeostasis; their functions in the pathophysiology of feline diabetes mellitus and obesity are poorly understood. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common endocrinopathy affecting an estimated 0.3–1% of cats presenting to teaching hospitals and primary-care practices in the UK, Sweden and United States [1,2,3,4,5]. This condition resembles Type 2 DM (T2DM) in humans, with affected animals developing insulin resistance and failure of pancreatic β-cells to increase insulin production to maintain euglycemia [6, 7]. Obese cats have higher circulating levels of leptin, and these decrease with weight
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