Serum levels of the myokine irisin in relation to metabolic and renal function

Irisin has recently been introduced as a novel myokine which reverses visceral obesity and improves glucose metabolism in mice. However, regulation of irisin in humans in relation to renal and metabolic disease has not been comprehensively studied.

Serum irisin levels were quantified by ELISA and correlated with anthropometric and biochemical parameters of renal function, glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as inflammation, in 532 patients with stages 1-5 of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Median serum irisin levels adjusted for age, gender, and BMI significantly decreased with increasing CKD stage and lowest concentrations were seen in patients with CKD stage 5. Furthermore, irisin concentrations were associated with facets of the metabolic syndrome including diastolic blood pressure, markers of impaired glucose tolerance, and dyslipidemia in univariate analysis. Moreover, markers of renal function, e.g. glomerular filtration rate, and insulin resistance, e.g. homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, remained independently associated with circulating irisin levels in robust multivariate analysis.

We show that irisin serum concentrations decrease with increasing CKD stage and are independently and positively predicted by renal function and insulin resistance. The physiological relevance of our findings, as well as the factors contributing to irisin regulation in humans, needs to be further defined in future experiments.