Omentin-A Novel Adipokine in Respiratory Diseases

Our plain-English summary of Omentin-A Novel Adipokine in Respiratory Diseases, by Y. Zhou, B. Zhang, C. Hao, et al (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2017).

The study

• Authors: Y. Zhou, B. Zhang, C. Hao, X. Huang, X. Li, Y. Huang, Z. Luo
• Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Published: 2017;19(1)
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 49 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Adipokines, secreted by the adipose tissue, are extensively involved in the regulation and maintenance of various physiological and pathological processes, including insulin sensitivity, energy expenditure, glucose and lipid metabolism, inflammatory activity, neuroendocrine activity, immunity, cancer, homeostasis, angiogenesis, cardiovascular function, breeding and bone metabolism, and all functions of the endocrine-reproductive system axis. Omentin is a recently identified adipokine, which has become a research hotspot due to its pleiotropic effects on various diseases. However, the specific receptor for omentin has not been identified so far. In this study, we report that omentin levels fluctuate in various diseases. In addition, we have focused on the pleiotropic roles of omentin in pulmonary diseases, as it may act as a biomarker for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and is related to disease severity. Omentin may play significant roles in other pulmonary diseases, such as asthma, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This review summarizes the advances in current knowledge and future trends, which may provide a concise and general view on omentin and its effects on pulmonary biology.

In plain English

This article was a review, not an original study. The authors summarized published research on omentin, a protein released by fat tissue, and on how its levels changed in many diseases, with a focus on lung and chest diseases. The article did not discuss asbestos. For malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), the review reported that cited studies found omentin mRNA and protein increased more than 129-fold in mesothelioma tumors and cell lines. It also reported that omentin in pleural effusions of patients with MPM was about 3000 ng/mL, compared with about 300, 250 and 650 ng/mL in lung cancer, tuberculosis and pleuropneumonia. Epithelioid-type MPMs, but not lung adenocarcinomas invading the pleura, stained with anti-omentin antibodies. The review also described cited studies on asthma, obstructive sleep apnea (where results conflicted), pulmonary arterial hypertension, acute respiratory distress syndrome and COPD. The authors concluded that omentin in pleural effusion may be a specific diagnostic marker for MPM. They said that whether it can be used for diagnosis requires further investigation, and that omentin's specific receptor is still unknown.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative review of published studies on the adipokine omentin, focused on respiratory diseases
• Who was studied: Published epidemiological, clinical and laboratory studies of omentin levels in various diseases (115 references), with a section on lung diseases including malignant pleural mesothelioma. Written by authors at the Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, China, and published in 2017.
• Exposure: Not applicable. The review concerns the protein omentin (intelectin-1), not asbestos or any fiber exposure. Asbestos is not mentioned.
• Main results:
  • The review cited studies reporting that omentin mRNA and protein levels increased more than 129-fold in mesothelioma tumors and cell lines.
  • Citing one study, the review reported omentin in pleural effusions of about 3000 ng/mL in patients with MPM. The average levels were about 300 ng/mL in lung cancer, 250 ng/mL in tuberculosis and 650 ng/mL in pleuropneumonia.
  • The review reported that epithelioid-type MPMs stained with anti-omentin antibodies. Lung adenocarcinomas invading the pleura and nearby reactive mesothelial cells did not.
  • Cited studies reported that, apart from some mucinous adenocarcinomas, omentin was not expressed in a range of other cancers.
  • For obstructive sleep apnea, the review reported that studies measuring omentin levels in patients gave contradictory results.
  • A cited study reported that circulating omentin levels were decreased in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that omentin in the pleural effusion may be a specific diagnostic marker for MPM.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The specific receptor for omentin is still unknown, which the authors said makes its physiological function hard to understand.
  • The authors said that whether omentin can be used for diagnosis, for assessing treatment outcomes or as a therapeutic target still requires further investigation.
  • Two sleep apnea studies that found raised omentin levels had small sample sizes.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Angiogenesis, Biomarker, Pleural Mesothelioma, COPD.

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