Serum Retinol Binding Protein 4 Was Positively Associated with Insulin Resistance and Decreased after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in Chinese Obese Patients

Abstract

Retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) is implicated in the regulation of energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has been proven effectively in treating T2DM and other obesity-related comorbidities. We aimed to investigate the association between RBP4 with insulin resistance and the change of RPB4 levels after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in Chinese obese patients. Eighty-two obese patients (34 males and 48 females) were enrolled and 30 subjects (10 males and 20 females) underwent LSG in this study. Anthropometric and glucose metabolic parameters were measured. Serum RBP4 levels were detected by enzyme-link immunosorbent assay. In all subjects, serum RBP4 levels were positively associated with BMI, OGTT blood glucose at 0, 30, 120, 180mins, fasting insulin, fasting C-peptide and HOMA-IR at baseline (all P<0.05). Moreover, HOMA-IR was significantly decreased at 3 and 6 months after LSG (all P<0.001). Intriguingly, serum RBP4 levels were also reduced from baseline to 3 and 6 months after LSG (from 43.20±14.27mg/l to 33.00±12.35mg/l to 31.87±9.90mg/l, all P<0.01). In conclusion, RBP4 is closely associated with glucose metabolism and insulin resistance in Chinese obese patients. The decreased RBP4 levels may partly account for the improved insulin sensitivity in obese subjects after LSG. Disclosure X. Wang: None. L. Li: None. C. Zhu: None. J. Gao: None. S. Qu: None.