Serum Liver Fatty Acid Binding Protein Levels Correlate Positively with Obesity and Insulin Resistance in Chinese Young Adults

BackgroundLiver fatty acid–binding protein (FABP1) plays an inconclusive role in adiposity. We investigated the association of serum FABP1 levels with obesity and insulin resistance in Chinese young people under 30 years old.
Methodology and Principal FindingsCross-sectional analysis including 200 obese and 172 normal-weight subjects matched for age and sex, anthropometric measurements were performed and serum FABP1 and biochemical characteristics were measured. Insulin resistance was determined by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and by the insulin sensitivity index (Si) derived from Bergman’s minimal model. FABP1 levels in obese subjects were significantly higher than those in normal-weight subjects (p<0.001) and the significance remained after adjustment for age, gender, alanine and aspartate aminotransferases (p<0.001). Serum FABP1 levels were significantly correlated with many metabolic-related parameters, with BMI and triglycerides as the independent determinants. FABP1 levels remained an independent risk factor of insulin resistance assessed by binary Si (OR = 1.868 per SD unit, 95% CI [1.035–3.373], p = 0.038) after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, serum triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol,. FABP1 levels were also elevated with an increasing number of components of the metabolic syndrome (p for trend <0.001). Multiple regression modeling for the MetS and its components demonstrated that hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-cholesterol were significantly correlated to serum FABP1 levels.
Conclusions and SignificanceSerum FABP1 correlates positively with obesity and insulin resistance in Chinese young adults. Our data supports the fact that FABP1 might be an important mediator participating in fatty acid metabolism and energy balance.

研究背景：肝脏脂肪酸结合蛋白（FABP1）在肥胖发生中的作用尚无定论。本研究针对30岁以下中国青年人群，探讨其血清FABP1水平与肥胖及胰岛素抵抗的关联。
研究方法与主要结果：本研究采用横断面分析设计，纳入200名肥胖受试者与172名年龄、性别匹配的体重正常受试者，完成人体测量学指标检测，并测定血清FABP1水平及各项生化特征。本研究通过胰岛素抵抗稳态模型评估（HOMA-IR）以及源自Bergman最小模型的胰岛素敏感性指数（Si）判定胰岛素抵抗情况。肥胖受试者的FABP1水平显著高于体重正常受试者（p<0.001），在校正年龄、性别、丙氨酸氨基转移酶与天冬氨酸氨基转移酶水平后，该差异仍具有统计学意义（p<0.001）。血清FABP1水平与多项代谢相关参数显著相关，其中体质量指数（BMI）与甘油三酯为其独立影响因素。在校正年龄、性别、BMI、腰围、收缩压、血清甘油三酯、总胆固醇、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇及低密度脂蛋白胆固醇后，FABP1水平仍是双相Si评估的胰岛素抵抗独立危险因素（每标准差单位的比值比OR=1.868，95%置信区间CI：1.035~3.373，p=0.038）。此外，FABP1水平随代谢综合征（MetS）组分数量增加而升高（趋势检验p<0.001）。针对代谢综合征及其组分的多元回归建模分析显示，高甘油三酯血症与低高密度脂蛋白胆固醇水平与血清FABP1水平显著相关。
结论与意义：中国青年人群的血清FABP1水平与肥胖及胰岛素抵抗呈正相关。本研究结果表明，FABP1可能是参与脂肪酸代谢与能量平衡的重要介质。