Objective. In this retrospective study, we aimed to analyse bone profile in menopausal women who suffered a low-trauma fall and were found to have an osteoporotic fracture. Methods. This real-life setting included individuals with a fall within the last year before DXA scan [providing bone mineral density (BMD)/T-score], and excluded traumatic falls, prior anti-osteoporosis therapy, diagnosis of osteoporosis, cancers, and bone metabolic diseases. Results. 5-year age-group analysis was statistically significantly different (N=48, p=0.017): in the 70-74 year interval, 75% were in group F (fracture +ve), in the 50-54 year interval, 83.33% were in group nonF (fracture-free). Mineral metabolism assays and bone turnover markers pinpointed a similar profile, except for DXA: femoral neck T-score was lower in group F versus nonF (-1.75±0.72 versus -1.17±0.91, p=0.029). Receiver operating characteristic curve of femoral neck T-score for predicting a fracture showed an area under the curve of 0.691 (p=0.031). Conclusion. Menopausal women with a 1-year fall history with fractures were older, had a longer menopause duration, and had lower femoral neck BMD than fracture-free women. Type 2 diabetes and hypertension had similar prevalence, as did the vitamin D profile and bone turnover markers. Individuals with vertebral fractures (most common types) showed a lower lumbar BMD versus those with non-vertebral fractures.
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
