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. 2023 Jan 5;13:1101091. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1101091

Table 4.

Main findings of clinical trials investigating circulating asprosin levels and correlations in diabetic complications.

Citation Cohort Target population (Study group) n, gender Main finding & Correlations
Zhang et al. (67) Cross-sectional study DN
(30 years & older)
105 Chinese subjects
NGT (n = 30)
T2DM + DN (n = 42)
T2DM + early stage of DN (n = 33)
⇑ Significantly higher circulating asprosin in non-DN and DN groups than NGT group. DN group showed the highest levels.
Circulating asprosin levels were closely associated with e-GFR and UACR and significantly increased ORs for early stage of DN.
Deng et al. (68) Cross-sectional study, T2DM with Microalbuminuria
(Expected DN)
(Mean age 61.6 ± 10.7 years)
207 patients with T2DM (120 m, 87 f)
T2DM normoalbuminuria (n = 107)
T2DM with microalbuminuria (n = 80)
T2DM with macroalbuminuria (n = 20)
⇑ serum asprosin levels in T2DM patients with macroalbuminuria and microalbuminuria group compared with normoalbuminuria group.
⇑ Positive correlation between serum asprosin concentrations and creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and UACR.
Wang et al. (69) Cross-sectional study T2DM with different stages of DN 284 subjects (152 m-132f)
212 T2DM adult patients (n = 212)
Normal to mildly increased group (DN0)
Moderately increased group (DN1)
Severely increased group (DN2)
Healthy controls (n = 72)
⇑ serum asprosin in all T2DM patients compared to controls.
⇑ serum asprosin in DN2 group compared to DN1 & DN0 groups.
Goodarzi et al. (70) cCse–control study T2DM patients & T2DM + DN 166 participants
T2DM (n = 56)
T2DM + DN (n = 54)
Healthy volunteers (n = 56)
⇑ serum asprosin level in T2DM and T2DM + DN groups than healthy group.
A positive correlation between asprosin and BMI and kidney function markers e GFR, UAE, and Creatinine in T2DM + DN patients.
Xu et al. (71) Cross-sectional study T2DM patients with different grades of DN 498 T2DM patients (298 m, 200 f)
Microalbuminuria (n = 221)
Massive albuminuria (n = 105)
No signs of nephropathy (n = 172)
⇑ Serum asprosin in the massive albuminuria group compared to microalbuminuria group and patients with no signs of albuminuria.
A positive correlation between serum asprosin and BMI, TG, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), AST, ALT, creatinine.
Oruc et al. (72) Observational study DRP 90 participants
T2DM and DRP with single eye and cataract (n = 30)
T2DM and cataract without DRP (n = 30)
Healthy control (n = 30)
⇑ Blood and aqueous humor asprosin levels in patients with DRP compared with non DRP.
You et al. (73) Cross-sectional single-center study T2DM patients with PAD 114 subjects
T2DM patients (n = 33)
T2DM patients with PAD (n = 51)
Healthy control (n = 30)
⇑ circulating asprosin in T2DM + PAD group compared to healthy control.
Deng et al. (74) Observational study T2DM patients
with carotid plaque
180 subjects ⇑ serum asprosin in the T2DM with carotid plaque group compared to T2DM without carotid plaque group
A positive correlation between serum asprosin and BMI, HOMA-IR.
Hong et al. (75) Observational study MetS (18-70 y) 293 participants (143 m,150 f)
MetS patients (n = 131)
Healthy subjects (n = 162)
⇑ serum asprosin in MetS patients compared to the healthy controls
⇑ Positive correlation between serum asprosin levels and metabolic components including BMI, WC, FPG, 2h-PG, HOMA-IR, TG.
Li et al. (65) T2DM or PCOS T2DM or PCOS 160 female subjects
T2DM (n = 53)
PCOS (n = 41)
Healthy controls (n = 66)
⇑ Plasma asprosin in T2DM females than in healthy subjects
⇑ Plasma asprosin in PCOS subjects than in healthy subjects but lower than in T2DM subjects.
Plasma asprosin showed positively correlated with FBG, HbA1c, HOMA-IR, LDL-c, Apolipoprotein B (APOB), APOE, and testosterone.