The Association of Serum Irisin with Impaired Glucose Before and After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in Obesity

Background To demonstrate the association of irisin levels with impaired glucose before and after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in patients with obesity. Methods Thirty-six patients with obesity undergoing LSG were included. We tested the irisin levels before and after LSG and conducted an evaluation of baseline irisin levels with elevated glucose as well as irisin changes with weight loss and its association with glucose control after LSG. Results Anthropometric measurements, body fat index, and metabolic parameters were significantly improved in 3 months following LSG (all p < 0.05). Baseline irisin levels were significantly higher in obesity with elevated fasting glucose than that with normal glucose (2.98 [2.37, 3.63] vs. 3.72 [3.06, 5.32], p = 0.031). After adjustment for sex, gender, and body mass index (BMI), obesity with higher irisin levels was prone to have impaired fasting glucose (OR = 2.499, 95% CI = 1.047–5.964). According to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity of baseline irisin levels on impaired fasting glucose were 75% and 77.8%. Irisin levels decreased from 3.29 (2.67, 4.43) to 2.82 (2.41, 3.25) ng/mL ( p = 0.009) after LSG. The decreases of weight, BMI, and FFA were more in irisin changes group (△irisin ≥ 0.5) than in no irisin changes group (△irisin < 0.5). And △irisin was negatively associated with postprandial glucose (PG) at 3 months after LSG (0.5 h-PG, r = − 0.478, p = 0.029; 2 h-PG, r = − 0.406, p = 0.017). Conclusions Elevated baseline irisin levels indicated the impaired glucose in obesity. The decrease of irisin with weight loss provided more evidence for the contribution of serum irisin secretion by fat mass in obesity. Graphical Abstract