Relationship between serum spexin levels and metabolic syndrome components in obese and normal weight people with or without diabetes

Backgrounds & aims: Spexin (SPX) as a novel polypeptide hormone plays a role in carbohydrate & lipid metabolism, energy balance, and calorie intake and it has a potential role in pathology of diabetes mellitus. Current study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum spexin levels and metabolic syndrome components in obese and normal weight people with or without diabetes. Methods: Eighty-six men and eighty-two women were recruited in this study as obese and normal weight people with or without diabetes. Insulin, HbA1c, FBS, TG, TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C levels, serum SPX, weight, height, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, as well as blood pressure were measured by standard methods. Results: There was a significant inverse relationship between serum levels of SPX and waist circumference (r = −0.37, P = 0.016) and triglyceride (r = −0.34, P = 0.028) in healthy people with normal weight. Moreover, a considerable relationship was observed between levels of SPX and FBS in healthy obese people (r = −0.42, P = 0.006). Conclusions: There was an inverse relationship between serum SPX and three components of metabolic syndrome, including FBS levels, waist circumference values, and serum TG concentrations in people without diabetes, highlighting SPX as a potential marker of metabolic syndrome in healthy people without diabetes.