Reproducibility of Retinol Binding Protein 4 and Omentin-1 Measurements over a Four Months Period: A Reliability Study in a Cohort of 207 Apparently Healthy Participants

PLoS One. 2015 Sep 24;10(9):e0138480. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138480. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

The reliability of single time point measurements of the novel adipokines retinol-binding protein 4 and omentin-1 in the blood has not been evaluated in large samples yet. The present study aimed to assess the amount of biological variation of these two adipokines within individuals. The study sample comprised 207 participants (124 women and 83 men) from Potsdam (Germany) and surrounding areas, with an average age of 56.5 years (SD 4.2). Blood samples were collected from each participant twice, approximately four months apart. Using enzyme linked immunosorbent assays, the concentrations of retinol-binding protein 4 and omentin-1 were determined in EDTA plasma. As indicators of reliability, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated from the repeated biomarker measurements. The ICCs for repeated retinol-binding protein 4 and omentin-1 measurements were 0.77 (95% CI 0.71, 0.82) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.78, 0.87), respectively, indicating for both adipokines excellent reliability. ICCs were stable across strata according to sex, age, BMI, and blood pressure. Thus, for epidemiological studies it seems reasonable to rely on concentrations of retinol-binding protein 4 and omentin-1 in samples from a single time point if repeated measurements are not available.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Biomarkers
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cytokines / blood*
  • Female
  • GPI-Linked Proteins / blood
  • Germany
  • Healthy Volunteers
  • Humans
  • Lectins / blood*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma*

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Cytokines
  • GPI-Linked Proteins
  • ITLN1 protein, human
  • Lectins
  • RBP4 protein, human
  • Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma

Grants and funding

The study was supported in part by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD, http://www.dzd-ev.de).