Alpha 1-antitrypsin. A novel biomarker for obesity in humans.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between alpha 1-antitrypsin (A1AT), adiponectin, leptin, blood glucose, and insulin protein levels in human serum and obesity. METHODS Forty-eight subjects with normal blood glucose levels and average age of 32.4+/-5.1 years were enrolled in this study. The study took place in the Reproductive Center, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China between June and July 2011. The height and weight were measured for calculating the body mass index (BMI) and grouped according to BMI. Fasting venous blood were drawn, and then serum levels of A1AT, adiponectin, leptin, blood glucose and insulin were measured by the ELISA method. The Statistics Package for Social Sciences Version 16.0 software was applied to process statistical data on A1AT, adiponectin, leptin, blood glucose and insulin protein levels, and discover the correlation between them. RESULTS Alpha 1-antitrypsin and adiponectin levels decreased as the BMI increased; leptin and insulin levels increased with BMI. Both correlations were statistically significant. Alpha 1-antitrypsin negatively correlated with leptin and insulin, but was not significant (r=-0.248 and r=0.166, p=0.0 and p>0.01); but there was no significant positive correlation with adiponectin (r=0.14, p>0.01). CONCLUSION Alpha 1-antitrypsin correlates closely with obesity, and is related to other factors such as leptin, adiponectin, and insulin. Alpha 1-antitrypsin might be used as a clinical biomarker and be a potential target for treating obesity.