Background: Irisin, an exercise induced myokine, has broad implications for metabolism and energy homeostasis. Available evidence about the association of serum irisin with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is limited.
Methods: Cross-sectional data on socio-demographic, lifestyle, clinical characteristics and serum irisin were collected for 1,115 community-living obese Chinese adults (waist circumference ≥ 90 cm for men and ≥ 80 cm for women). CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) and/or the presence of albuminuria. Associations of serum irisin and body composition measurements with CKD were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression.
Results: The overall prevalence of CKD were 23.1% (26.6% in females and 15.5% in males, p < 0.001). Subjects within quartile 4 group of serum irisin had significantly the lowest prevalence of CKD (22.9%, 22.2%, 28.7% and 18.7% for quartile 1-4 groups, respectively, p = 0.046). With adjustment for potential confounders, compared with those within quartile 1 group of serum irisin, subjects within quartile 4 group showed significantly decreased risk of CKD and marginally decreased risk of albuminuria, with the adjusted odds ratios (ORs, 95% CI) of 0.572 (0.353-0.927, p = 0.023) and 0.611 (0.373-1.000, p = 0.050), respectively. As for body composition measurements, only body fat percentage was significantly associated with both albuminuira and CKD, with ORs (95% CI) of 1.046 (1.002-1.092, p = 0.039) and 1.049 (1.006-1.093, p = 0.025), respectively. No statistically significant interaction effect between serum irisin and body composition measurements on CKD was found.
Conclusions: Our results imply that high serum irisin level was associated with reduced risk of CKD, and should be confirmed in future studies. Furthermore, adiposity per se, rather than body weight or body shape, is independently associated with increased risk of CKD. Future studies should examine whether decreasing body fat percentage may prevent or slow CKD.