Adipocytokines are strongly associated with abdominal adiposity during the course of acute pancreatitis (AP). This study investigated associations between a panel of adipocytokines and abdominal adiposity in AP patients after hospital discharge, as well as the effect of several covariates. Fasting venous blood samples were collected to measure adiponectin, interleukin 6, leptin, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), resistin, and retinol-binding protein 4. Waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio, and waist-height ratio (WheightR) were used as measures of abdominal adiposity. Generalised linear models were built, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, diabetes status, aetiology, duration since admission for AP, recurrence, and severity of AP. A total of 93 patients were studied, on average at 22 months after AP. Interleukin 6, TNFα, and leptin were significantly associated with WC in both the unadjusted and all the three adjusted models. Also, they were significantly associated with WheightR in both the unadjusted and the three adjusted models. Other studied adipocytokines did not show a consistent association or were not significantly associated with the abdominal adiposity indices. The results suggest that excess abdominal adiposity favours pro-inflammatory milieu in AP patients after hospital discharge, independent of diabetes and effect of other covariates.
Keywords: Abdominal adiposity; Acute pancreatitis; Interleukin 6; Leptin; Obesity; Tumour necrosis factor α.