Is FGF23 effective on insulin resistance in individuals with metabolic syndrome?

Purpose Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a polymetabolic syndrome has high morbidity and mortality rates. Insulin resistance (IR) plays a key role in the increasing frequency of this situation and has been cited as being an important etiologic factor in MetS. In this study, the relationship between IR and fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23), was investigated in a population with MetS. Materials and methods Forty patients with diagnosis of MetS and 40 healthy volunteers with an equal number of males and females were included in the study and classified as patient group and control group. Blood samples were obtained after 12-h fasting period to study FGF23 and other parameters. MetS, defined according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) guidelines, FGF23 was studied by Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) method and IR was calculated using the homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) formula. Results There was a statistically significant difference in HOMA-IR between the patient and control group as expected, while levels of FGF23 were similar. According to gender, levels of FGF23 was statistically significantly higher in male patients compared with controls (p = 0.037). A relationship was not detected between HOMA-IR and FGF23 in the correlation analysis. Conclusion Although there are many studies suggesting the correlation between FGF23 and IR in different populations, we did not find any statistically significant relationship between IR and FGF23 levels in MetS in this study.