title: Serum omentin levels: A possible contribution to vascular involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis.
abstract: Adipokines have been shown to be potentially involved in various pathological processes of systemic sclerosis (SSc), including inflammation, vasculopathy and fibrosis, through their pleiotropic effects. Omentin is a member of the adipokines, and has a protective effect against vascular inflammation and pathological remodeling leading to atherosclerosis as well as a vasodilatory effect. To assess the potential role of omentin in the development of SSc, we determined serum omentin levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 66 SSc and 21 control subjects and evaluated their clinical correlation. Serum omentin levels were significantly decreased in diffuse cutaneous SSc patients compared with limited cutaneous SSc patients, while comparable between total SSc patients and healthy controls. In diffuse cutaneous (dc)SSc, patients with a disease duration of 5 years or less had serum omentin levels significantly lower than those with a disease duration of more than 5 years. In total SSc, serum omentin levels were significantly higher in patients with elevated right ventricular systolic pressure than in the others, while serum omentin levels did not correlate with fibrotic and systemic inflammatory parameters. These results suggest that a loss of omentin-dependent protection against vascular inflammation and remodeling may be related to pathological vascular events of early dcSSc. The elevation of serum omentin levels may serve as a marker of vascular involvement leading to pulmonary arterial hypertension in SSc, which is possibly due to the compensatory induction of omentin against the increased pulmonary vascular tone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Yoshihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: Ryosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saigusa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Takehiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ichimura
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toyama
authors.forename: Zenshiro
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Yayoi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugaya
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadono
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D045743:Scleroderma, Diffuse / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D045745:Scleroderma, Limited / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D013997:Time Factors; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; C432397:ITLN1 protein, human; D037102:Lectins
keywords: omentin; pulmonary arterial hypertension; systemic sclerosis; vascular inflammation; vasodilation