Abstract
ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate how lean body mass is related to circulating Interleukin 18 (IL-18) and its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS) among apparently healthy Chinese.MethodsA population-based sample of 1059 Chinese men and women aged 35–54 years was used to measure plasma IL-18, glucose, insulin, lipid profile, inflammatory markers and high-molecular-weight (HMW)-adiponectin. Fat mass index (FMI) and lean mass index (LMI) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. MetS was defined by the updated National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for Asian-Americans.ResultsCirculating IL-18 was positively correlated with LMI after adjustment for FMI (correlation coefficient = 0.11, P<0.001). The association with the MetS (odds ratio 3.43, 95% confidence interval 2.01–5.85) was substantially higher in the highest than the lowest quartile of IL-18 after multiple adjustments including body mass index. In the stratified multivariable regression analyses, the positive association between IL-18 and MetS was independent of tertiles of FMI, inflammatory markers and HMW-adiponectin, but significantly interacted with tertile of LMI (P for interaction = 0.010).ConclusionElevated plasma IL-18 was associated with higher MetS prevalence in apparently healthy Chinese, independent of traditional risk factors, FMI, inflammatory markers and HMW-adiponectin. More studies are needed to clarify the role of lean mass in IL-18 secretion and its associated cardio-metabolic disorders.
Highlights
Growing evidence suggests a pivotal role of chronic subclinical inflammation in the pathophysiology of cardio-metabolic disorders [1]
Plasma Interleukin 18 (IL-18) was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, total body fat mass/percentage, total body lean mass, Fat mass index (FMI) and lean mass index (LMI) after controlling for age and IL-18 quartile
AData are unadjusted arithmetic means (SD), P values were calculated after adjustment for age and sex. bData are unadjusted geometric means. cP value was calculated after adjustment for sex only. dP value was calculated after adjustment for age only
Summary
Growing evidence suggests a pivotal role of chronic subclinical inflammation in the pathophysiology of cardio-metabolic disorders [1]. As an active endocrine organ, human adipose tissue secretes multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin 6 (IL6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (2), and IL-18 (3). With IL12, IL-18 could induce interferon-c production from T, B and natural killer cells (6). It plays a crucial role in proinflammatory cascade by stimulating the production of TNF-a and IL-6 (4,7). Exiting evidence indicated that circulating IL-18 was positively associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type 2 diabetes (10–13), suggesting potential applications of IL-18 as an intervention target or prognostic biomarker. Most studies to date were conducted in western populations and little is known about the effect of IL-18 on cardio-metabolic risk in Asians like Chinese who might have different metabolic susceptibility (14)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
