Objective. In this pilot study, we aimed to analyze the blood irisin levels in relation to glucose and mineral metabolism assays in menopausal women with non-diabetic altered glucose regulation: impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Methods. This was a prospective, transversal, non-interventional, bi-centric (bi-country) study, between December 2024 and October 2025. Results. The patients (N=47) with IGT (N=21) or IFG (N=26) had a similar age (63±9.24 versus 63.46±8.16years, p=0.856), menopause duration (14.05±9.37 versus 16.76±8.07years, p=0.297), and body mass index with mean values within the obesity range (34.84±5.07 versus 31.34±6.46kg/sqm, p=0.765). Average 25-hydroxyvitamin D showed an insufficiency (28.62±8.09 versus 28.06± 6.99ng/mL). The IGT versus IFG group were found with statistically significantly higher 1-hour glycaemia in the oral glucose tolerance test (207.04±34.72 versus 179.40±33.91mg/dL, p=0.009), 2-hour insulin (101.44±67.26 versus 48.97±34.35 µUI/mL, p=001), fasting insulin (13.00±7.38 versus 8.36±3.96µUI/mL, p=0.008); HOMA-IR (3.53±2.32 versus 2.27±1.17; p=0.21) with mean levels sustaining insulin resistance. Conclusion. Circulating irisin was marginally elevated in the IGT versus the IFG group and positively correlated with body mass index in both. We found no correlation with the glucose profile, but with selective mineral metabolism assays. This pilot study requires an expansion of the sample size to pinpoint the potential practical utility of irisin as a biomarker.
Background. A novel framework to assess obesity and its complications involves the evaluation of fat-derived factors as potential biomarkers of the cardio-metabolic outcome and long-term management. In this exploratory study, we aimed to evaluate microarray-based circulating levels of adiponectin, adipsin, and AgRP in menopausal women with obesity. Methods. This is a pilot, bi-centric study according to a protocol based on Quantibody® Human Obesity Array 3 (RayBiotech, Norcross, GA, USA). Patients with obesity-associated complications (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia) were excluded. Results. In the study population (N = 24, median age of 60 years) adiponectin correlated with lipocalin-2 (r = 0.943, p = 0.0048) and plasminogen activation inhibitor-1 (r = 0.829, p = 0.0416). Adipsin correlated with inteleukin-8 (r = 0.786, p = 0.0362), and leptin (r = 0.832, p = 0.0008). Conclusion. Apparently healthy obese menopausal individuals present a landscape of circulating adipokines that might be placed in relationship with the inflammatory and coagulation panel, across a complex inter-play. In addition, agouti-related peptide, despite being a well- known central orexigenic factor, might serve as circulating biomarker, too, noting its correlations with interleukin-6 and glycaemia at 120 minute during oral glucose tolerance test.
Objective: Currently, the global epidemiologic impact of obesity requires continuous seeking of practical biomarkers; hence, this current study aimed to address the gap of chemerin assays in obese versus non-obese females and to analyze its circulating levels in relationship with the glucose profile and other circulating adipokines. Methods: This is an exploratory, prospective, cross-sectional analysis in females aged between 50 and 80 years. We excluded individuals with diabetes, cancers, endocrine, kidney, cardiovascular, and bone conditions. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based circulating adipokines testing was performed. The final analysis was focused on circulating chemerin (ng/mL) in the obese [body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/sqm] versus non-obese (BMI < 30 kg/sqm) group. Results: The obesity (N=12) versus the non-obesity (N=12) group showed a statistically significantly higher HOMA-IR (p=0.04), fasting insulin (p=0.01), but similar circulating chemerin. Chemerin positively correlated with BMI only in the obesity group (r=0.881, p=0.0039), but not with patients’ age and glucose profile-based features in any group. Chemerin showed a statistically significant positive, strong correlation with VEGF-A level (r=0.857, p=0.0065) and an inverse statistically significant strong association with circulating leptin (r= -0.713, p=0.0092) and circulating IL-12 p40 (r= -0.829, p=0.0416) in the obesity group. Conclusion: As a potential hypothesis-generating analysis, this pilot study showed different statistical results in BMI-based groups, despite the fact that direct comparison of circulating chemerin and even leptin, VEGF-A, and IL-12 p40 did not reach between-group statistical significance. A larger sample size and a multimodal integration of the adipokines panel might serve for practical points in addressing obesity. Citation: Schipor SV, Manda D, Ciobica ML, Sima OC, Preda EM, Ciuche A, et al. Exploratory results of circulating chemerin testing in humans. R. J. Mil. Med. 2026, CXXIX(4): 404-412 https://doi.org/10.55453/rjmm.2026.129.4.6 Academic Editor: Raluca Mititelu
