Dear Editor,
We read the article entitled “Serum Adropin Levels Are Reduced in Adult Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease” by Kutlu et al. [1] with interest. The authors evaluated serum adropin levels among patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and presented evidence for the association of serum levels of adropin with insulin resistance and NAFLD in adult patients.
A low serum adropin level is associated with reduced nitric oxide bioavailability in the endothelium. Reduced bioavailability of nitric oxide is a major feature of endothelial dysfunction, which is a predictor of atherosclerosis [2]. Adropin has been identified recently as a regulatory protein that participates in the regulation of energy homeostasis and insulin response [3].
Kumar et al. [4] demonstrated that adropin has protective effects on the cardiac system of mice. Ertem et al. [5] investigated the association between non-ST elevation myocardial infarction and serum adropin levels. In this study, patients with acute coronary syndrome and a high SYNTAX score had a significantly lower adropin level compared to acute coronary syndrome patients with a low SYNTAX score.
According to these studies, when a patient is diagnosed as NAFLD with low levels of adropin, further investigations should be considered for the detection of coronary artery disease and its complexity.
Disclosure Statement
The author declares no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this letter.
References
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