Abstract
PURPOSE: Obesity has become a global public health concern as evidence mounts that it is related to a large variety of life threatening diseases from diabetes to heart disease. The biochemical links between body composition and hypercholesterolemia are a target of ongoing research. The hormone collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) has been shown to play an important role in the regulation of body composition in mouse models. This study aimed to compare CTHRC1 and serum lipid panels in human adults. We hypothesized that higher CTHRC1 levels would be associated with both decreased cholesterol and triglycerides (TG). METHODS: This study was done in collaboration with researchers at the University of South Carolina who completed the Energy Balance Study (EBS) on 430 adult subjects age 21-35, with BMI ranging from 20-35. Deidentified baseline plasma samples from the EBS subjects were analyzed with enzymatic calorimetric testing and ELISA to measure lipid panels (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides) and CTHRC1 concentrations respectively. Statistical analysis software was used to compare the data both generally and within clinically accepted subgroups of lipid concentrations. RESULTS: Of the 430 samples from the EBS subjects, 310 contained sufficient plasma for both CTHRC1 and lipid panel testing. No statistically significant difference in lipid concentrations was found between detectable and undetectable CTHRC1 groups (p=0.17-0.99). Stratification of CTHRC1 into undetectable, middle 75% and top 25% also showed no significant difference in lipid concentrations (p=0.32-0.79), nor did stratification of lipid panel components into clinically relevant subgroups (total cholesterol </>200, HDL </>40, LDL </>100, TG </>150, p=0.12-0.94). Lastly, linear regression models showed no correlation between CTHRC1 and lipid concentrations (p=0.21-0.93). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates no association between CTHRC1 and lipid concentrations in a sample of relatively healthy human adults. Further research is required to better understand the temporal variation of CTHRC1 levels in vivo and thus, better time the collection of samples from subjects. Furthermore, a broader range of body composition among future subjects will help to better generalize data to the adult population.
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