PPAR-α Agonist Fenofibrate Decreased Serum Irisin Levels in Type 2 Diabetes Patients with Hypertriglyceridemia

Irisin is related to insulin resistance and metabolic disorders. The physiologic effects of irisin are partially mediated through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha). We investigated the effect of fenofibrate, a PPAR-alpha agonist, on serumirisin in type 2 diabetes patients with hypertriglyceridemia. This study evaluated cross-sectional and interventional studies of 25 type 2 diabetes patients with hypertriglyceridemia (groupA) and 40 controls (group B). GroupAwas treated with fenofibrate (200mg/day) for 8 weeks. Serum irisin and clinical characteristics were examined. Serum irisin was significantly higher in group A compared with group B (45.15 +/- 10.48 versus 35.38 +/- 9.97 ng/ml, P < 0.001) and correlated with bodymass index (r = 0.314, P = 0.011), fasting blood glucose (r = 0.399, P = 0.001), total cholesterol (r = 0.256, P = 0.040), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.247,P = 0.047). In multiple regression analysis after controlling for confounders, only fasting blood glucose (beta = 5.615, P < 0.001) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (beta = 19.483, P < 0.001) were independently related to serumirisin. After 8 weeks of fenofibrate treatment, serum irisin significantly decreased in group A compared with baseline (45.15 +/- 10.48 versus 38.74 +/- 12.54 ng/ml,P. = 0.011). Conclusively, fenofibrate decreased serum irisin in type 2 diabetes patients with hypertriglyceridemia, indicating that PPAR-alpha agonists may protect against metabolic disorders by improving irisin resistance.