Circulating levels of novel adipocytokines in patients with colorectal cancer

Objective: Adipocytokines have been reported to contribute to the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this matched case-control study was to explore circulating novel adipocytoldnes, such as serum visfatin, omentin-1 and vaspin levels in patients with CRC. Method: Serum visfatin, omentin-1, and vaspin levels were measured in 69 subjects (39 patients with colorectal cancer and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods. Results: Compared with the controls, patients with CRC had significantly higher circulating omentin-1 (203.23 vs 9.12 ng/ml, p<0.0001) visfatin (4.03 vs 2.01 ng/ml, p<0.0001) and vaspin (0.54 vs 0.31 ng/ml, p=0.015) levels. After adjustment for covariates (age and body mass index), patients with CRC had significantly higher serum omentin-1 (p<0.0001), visfatin (p<0.0001), and vaspin (p=0.040) levels than the control group. Furthermore, the results did not change when age and waist-to-hip ratio were considered as covariates in the general linear models. Conclusions: The observed higher levels of omentin-1, visfatin, and vaspin in patients with CRC, independent of measures of obesity, suggest that these adipocytokines may have a potential role in the development of CRC through mechanisms other than the indirect mechanisms that are active in the association between obesity and CRC. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.