Irisin, bridging the gaps between exercise and cardiovascular health: A ray of hope

Introduction: Irisin, an adipomyokine, is released in response to exercise from skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Research has shown that exercise–induced release of myokines improves metabolic balance and enhances energy expenditure suggesting that irisin may play a role in the link between exercise and specific health benefits, particularly in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Objective: To evaluate the role of r-irisin in improving nicotine-induced dyslipidemia by measuring serum lipids levels in BALB/c mice after parenteral administration of r-irisin. Materials and Methods: An experimental animal study was conducted at Foundation University Islamabad in collaboration with the National Institute of Health, Islamabad. Three sets of thirty healthy BALB/c mice were housed under regular conditions. Group 1 (control group) was given normal saline intraperitoneally for 28 days. In Group 2 and 3, dyslipidemia was induced by administration of nicotine intraperitoneally for 28 days. In Group 3, in addition to nicotine, r-irisin was administered via tail vein injection for the last 14 days. On the 29th day, all mice were euthanized and intracardiac blood samples were taken for estimation of serum lipids levels. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 24 with one-way ANOVA (to calculate differences across groups) and post-hoc Tukey’s test (for multiple comparisons among groups). A p-value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Group 2 showed a statistically significant increase in serum lipid levels (p<0.001) as compared to group 1. In Group 3, with co-administration of r-irisin, significant improvement in serum lipid levels was observed (p< 0.001) as compared to Group 2. Conclusion: Exogenous administration of irisin improved serum dyslipidemia in BALB/c mice.