Increased lipocalin-2 vs reduced oxytocin in relation with adiposity, atherogenicity and hematological indices in metabolic syndrome patients with and without prediabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The neuropeptide hormone- Oxytocin (OXT) and glycoprotein Lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) are strongly associated with cardiometabolic risks of insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome (MetS) and prediabetes (preDM). METHODS: In a cross sectional design we aimed to compare and correlate plasma levels of OXT and LCN-2 and a set of clinical parameters, adiposity indices, atherogenicity indices, and hematological indices in 29 MetS/ preDM individuals and 29 non-diabetic MetS subjects vs 30 normoglycemic lean controls. Colorimetric enzymatic assays of biomarkers were procured. RESULTS: LCN-2 concentration (ng/mL) increased significantly in MetS/preDM vs controls. Substantially in MetS recruits (both non-diabetic and pre-diabetics; n = 58); OXT directly correlated with visceral adiposity index (VAI), non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratio, TC/HDL-C ratio, LDL-C/HDL-C ratio, lipid accumulation product (LAP), and atherogenicity index of plasma (AIP). Impressively, LCN-2 correlated proportionally with waist circumference (WC), red cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophils, and neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio (NLR), but inversely with lymphocytes in the 58 (non- and preDM) MetS participants. CONCLUSIONS: These pronounced variations and correlations of OXT and LCN-2 emphasize their putative molecular roles in MetS and preDM pathophysiologies. Thus, OXT and LCN-2 can be surrogate prognostic/diagnostic tools for the MetS/preDM pharmacotherapy/prevention.