Abstract
PurposeAsprosin, an orexigenic hormone that stimulates hepatic glucose release, is elevated in insulin resistance and associated with obesity. Plasma asprosin concentrations may also be related to female sex hormone levels; higher levels are reported in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) but this may be related to peripheral insulin resistance also associated with PCOS. Clarification of female-specific factors influence on the plasma asprosin response is crucial for studies investigating asprosin. Therefore, this study determined the association of menstrual phase, oral contraceptive (OC) use (as a pharmacological influence on sex hormone levels) and training status (as a physiological influence on sex hormone levels) on plasma asprosin levels in pre-menopausal women.MethodsFasting plasma asprosin, 17β-estradiol (E2) and progesterone, were assessed in 32 healthy untrained and trained women with regular menstrual cycles (non-OC; n = 8 untrained, n = 6 trained) or using OC (n = 10 untrained, n = 8 trained) during early follicular, late follicular and mid-luteal menstrual phases (or the time-period equivalent for OC users).ResultsAsprosin was lower in OC (0.75 ± 0.38 ng mL−1) than non-OC users (1.00 ± 0.37 ng mL−1; p = 0.022). Across a cycle, asprosin was highest in the early follicular equivalent time-point in OC users (0.87 ± 0.37 ng mL−1) but highest in the mid-luteal phase in non-OC users (1.09 ± 0.40 ng mL−1). Asprosin concentrations varied more across a cycle in untrained than trained women, with higher concentrations in the early follicular phase compared to the late follicular and mid-luteal (training status-by-menstrual phase interaction p = 0.028).ConclusionThese findings highlight the importance of considering OC use, menstrual cycle phase and to a lesser extent training status when investigating circulating asprosin concentrations in females.
Highlights
Asprosin is a newly reported orexigenic protein hormone that is secreted from white adipose tissue and encoded by the final two exons of the FBN1 gene (Romere et al 2016)
Non-oral contraceptive (OC) users had higher asprosin levels compared to OC users (main effect OC use p = 0.022; effect sizes (ES) = 0.66; 95% confidence intervals (CI) − 0.51, − 0.04 ng mL−1)
Post hoc analysis revealed that OC users had higher asprosin concentrations in early follicular compared to late follicular (p = 0.032; ES = 0.46; 95% CI 0.01, 0.30 ng mL−1) and mid-luteal (p = 0.014; ES = 0.53; 95% CI 0.04, 0.33 ng mL−1) phases whereas non-oral contraceptive users (non-OC) users had higher asprosin concentrations in mid-luteal compared to late follicular phase (p = 0.048; ES = 0.38; 95% CI 0.001, 0.33 ng mL−1)
Summary
Asprosin is a newly reported orexigenic protein hormone that is secreted from white adipose tissue and encoded by the final two exons of the FBN1 gene (Romere et al 2016). The association between asprosin and appetite has been recently proposed; mice containing mutations affecting exon 65 of the FBN1 gene display hypophagia and extreme leanness compared to litter mates (Romere et al 2016; Duerrschmid et al 2017). These animals are protected from diabetes and obesity when exposed to dietary stress. This association of asprosin with body composition, presumably exerted through the effects on appetite, makes asprosin a target of significant interest in controlling energy balance and, disease in individuals with diabetes and obesity (Yuan et al 2020)
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