Relationship between asprosin and insulin resistance in hypothyroidism

Abstract Objectives Thyroid dysfunction is a common disorder associated with changes in body metabolism and low-grade inflammation. Associated with insulin resistance (IR), asprosin is a newly discovered peptide hormone. Asprosin promotes hepatic glucose production. This study was designed to evaluate the relationship between asprosin and IR in patients with overt and subclinical hypothyroidism and to compare the findings with a euthyroid healthy control group. Methods The study included 30 patients diagnosed with hypothyroidism, 29 patients diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism, and 30 healthy individuals. Serum asprosin concentrations, glucose concentrations, and HOMA-IR indices of the groups were compared. Results The mean age was 37.8 years, and 77.5 % (69/89) of participants were female. We found that circulating asprosin concentrations were elevated in patients with overt and subclinical hypothyroidism compared to controls. Asprosin concentrations were positively correlated with TSH, Anti TPO, Anti TG, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and negatively correlated with FT4 and FT3. Conclusions For the first time in the literature, this study has shown that asprosin concentration is increased in patients with hypothyroidism, and that increased asprosin concentrations are associated with increased serum glucose concentration and HOMA-IR index. Therefore, asprosin may be a useful new marker for early metabolic disorders in hypothyroid patients.