Increased level of resistin predicts development of atrial fibrillation

Resistin is a peptide hormone that is secreted from lipid cells and is linked to type-2 diabetes, obesity, and inflammation. Being an important adipocytokine, resistin was proven to play an important role in cardiovascular disease. We compared resistin levels in patients with and without atrial fibrillation (AF) to demonstrate the relationship between plasma resistin levels and AF.

One hundred patients with AF and 58 control patients who were matched in terms of age, gender, and risk factors were included in the trial. Their clinical risk factors, biometric measurements, echocardiographic work up, biochemical parameters including resistin and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were compared.

In patients with AF, plasma resistin levels (7.34±1.63ng/mL vs 6.67±1.14ng/mL; p=0.003) and hs-CRP levels (3.01±1.54mg/L vs 2.16±1.28mg/L; p=0.001) were higher than control group. In subgroup analysis, resistin levels were significantly higher in patients with paroxysmal (7.59±1.57ng/mL; p=0.032) and persistent AF (7.73±1.60ng/mL; p=0.006), but not in patients with permanent AF subgroups (6.86±1.61ng/mL; p=0.92) compared to controls. However, hs-CRP levels were significantly higher only in permanent AF patients compared to control group (3.26±1.46mg/L vs 2.16±1.28mg/L; p=0.02). In multivariate regression analysis using model adjusted for age, gender, body mas index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and creatinine levels, plasma resistin levels [odds ratio (OR): 1.30; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-1.70; p=0.04] and hs-CRP levels (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.12-1.86; p=0.004) were the only independent predictors of AF.

The elevated levels of plasma resistin were related to paroxysmal AF group and persistent AF group, but not to permanent AF group.