Interplay between adipose tissue secreted proteins, eating behavior and obesity

Marleen Würfel; Jana Breitfeld; Claudia Gebhard; Markus Scholz; Ronny Baber; Steffi G Riedel-Heller; Matthias Blüher; Michael Stumvoll; Peter Kovacs; Anke Tönjes

doi:10.1007/s00394-021-02687-w

Interplay between adipose tissue secreted proteins, eating behavior and obesity

Eur J Nutr. 2022 Mar;61(2):885-899. doi: 10.1007/s00394-021-02687-w. Epub 2021 Oct 12.

Authors

Marleen Würfel^#¹, Jana Breitfeld^#¹, Claudia Gebhard², Markus Scholz^{3

4}, Ronny Baber⁴, Steffi G Riedel-Heller⁵, Matthias Blüher^{1

2}, Michael Stumvoll¹, Peter Kovacs^{1

6}, Anke Tönjes⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine III, Division of Endocrinology, Nephrology and Rheumatology, University of Leipzig, Liebigstr. 18, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
² Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG), Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and the University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
³ Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
⁴ LIFE Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, Leipzig, Germany.
⁵ Medical Faculty, Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health (ISAP), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
⁶ German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Neuherberg, Germany.
⁷ Department of Medicine III, Division of Endocrinology, Nephrology and Rheumatology, University of Leipzig, Liebigstr. 18, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. Anke.toenjes@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: Adipokines may play an important role in the complex etiology of human obesity and its metabolic complications. Here, we analyzed the relationship between 15 adipokines, eating behavior and body-mass index (BMI).

Methods: The study included 557 participants of the Sorbs (62.1% women, 37.9% men) and 3101 participants of the population-based LIFE-Adult cohorts (53.4% women, 46.4% men) who completed the German version of the Three-Factor-Eating Questionnaire to assess the eating behavior types cognitive restraint, disinhibition and hunger. Serum levels of 15 adipokines, including adiponectin, adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (AFABP), angiopoietin-related growth factor (AGF), chemerin, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-19, FGF-21, FGF-23, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, interleukin (IL) 10, irisin, progranulin, vaspin, pro-neurotensin (pro-NT), pro-enkephalin (PENK) and leptin were measured. Based on significant correlations between several adipokines with different eating behavior items and BMI, we conducted mediation analyses, considering the eating behavior items as potential mediation variable towards BMI.

Results: Here, we found that the positive association between chemerin, AFABP or leptin and BMI in Sorbian women was mediated by higher restraint or disinhibited eating, respectively. Additionally, in Sorbian women, the negative relation between IGF-1 and BMI was mediated by higher disinhibition and the positive link between AGF and BMI by lower disinhibition. In Sorbian men, the negative relationship between PENK and BMI was mediated by lower disinhibition and hunger, whereas the negative relation between IGF-1 and BMI was mediated by higher hunger. In the LIFE-Adult women´s cohort, associations between chemerin and BMI were mediated by decreased hunger or disinhibition, respectively, whereas relations between PENK and BMI were fully mediated by decreased disinhibition.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that adipokines such as PENK, IGF-1, chemerin, AGF, AFABP and leptin might affect the development of obesity by directly modifying individual eating behavior. Given the observational nature of the study, future experimental or mechanistic work is warranted.

Keywords: Adipokines; Cytokines; Eating behavior; Obesity.

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue*
Adult
Body Mass Index
Feeding Behavior / psychology
Female
Humans
Hunger
Male
Obesity*

Abstract

MeSH terms

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