A new inflammatory marker in overweight patients: Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1) is secreted by phagocytes in adipose tissue and it also upregulates the expression of genes involved in the infl ammatory response and atherosclerotic conditions. This study was aimed to investigate the serum TREM-1 levels in overweight patients. METHODS: Twenty-eight subjects in the overweight group (OG) and 20 age-matched healthy subjects in the control group (CG) (BMI 27.6±1.2 vs 23.1±2.17 kg/m2, respectively, p<0.001) were included in the study. The serum sTREM-1 level was measured by ELISA. The homeostasis model assessment score (HOMA-IR) was also calculated. RESULTS: The mean TREM-1 levels were signifi cantly higher in OG than in CG (407.3±323.7 vs 150.3±152.7 pg/mL, respectively, p<0.001). The HOMA-IR score was also signifi cantly higher in OG than in CG (3.42±3.63 vs 2.77±1.61, respectively). A positive correlation was detected between TREM-1 and BMI (r=0.318, p=0.028). CONCLUSIONS: This study mainly demonstrated that a high serum TREM-1 level might be an early infl ammatory marker in overweight patients. We found that TREM-1 might be associated with BMI in overweight patients regardless of insulin resistance (Tab. 1, Ref. 21).