An elevated plasma level of visfatin increases the risk of myocardial infarction

Visfatin, an adipocytokine involved in metabolic and immune disorders, plays an important role in the etiology of cardiovascular disease. Recent evidence has shown that an elevated plasma level of visfatin may increase the risk of myocardial infarction (MI), but individual published studies have shown inconclusive results. This study aimed to obtain a more precise estimate of the association between the plasma visfatin level and MI risk through a detailed meta-analysis of studies published in peer-reviewed journals. A literature search of articles published before May 1, 2013 was performed on the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and China BioMedicine databases. Crude standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Eleven case-control studies comprising 362 MI patients and 322 healthy controls were included. The meta-analysis revealed that an elevated plasma level of visfatin was associated with an increased risk of MI (SMD = 3.82, 95%CI = 2.67-4.98, P < 0.001). Further stratification based on the source of the controls showed that an elevated plasma level of visfatin was significantly associated with increased risk of MI in both hospital-based and population-based studies (SMD = 4.12, 95%CI = 2.23-6.01, P < 0.001 and SMD = 3.65, 95%CI = 2.67- 4.98, P < 0.001, respectively). No publication bias was evident in this meta-analysis. In conclusion, the current meta-analysis indicates that an elevated plasma level of visfatin increases the risk of MI. Therefore, plasma visfatin may be a promising biomarker for the diagnosis of MI.