Dear Editor,
We thank Erdol and colleagues for their comments on our study evaluating serum adropin levels among patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [1]. Their point on the association of levels of adropin with the bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO), an important factor in endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis, is very important. In our study, we also discussed that endothelial NO synthetase expression has been reported to be induced by adropin, resulting in a direct association between NO and adropin levels [2]. Ertem et al. [3] showed that increased levels of serum adropin in patients with acute coronary syndrome is also important indicating the role of adropin in clinical practice. In our study, we excluded patients with a history of coronary artery disease. Moreover, we also excluded patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or obesity to eliminate the effects of these chronic diseases on endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. We suggest that decreased levels of adropin in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease should be studied further as a possible predictor of coronary artery disease.
References
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