Circulating Levels of Pro-Neurotensin and Its Relationship with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Hepatic Lipid Metabolism
Beatriz Villar,
Laia Bertran,
Carmen Aguilar,
Jessica Binetti,
Salomé Martínez,
Fàtima Sabench,
Monica Real,
David Riesco,
Marta París,
Daniel Del Castillo,
Cristóbal Richart,
Teresa Auguet
Affiliations
Beatriz Villar
Servei Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Laia Bertran
Grup d’Estudi de Malalties Metabòliques associades a Insulino Resistència (GEMMAIR)–AGAUR, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Carmen Aguilar
Grup d’Estudi de Malalties Metabòliques associades a Insulino Resistència (GEMMAIR)–AGAUR, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Jessica Binetti
Servei Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Servei de Cirurgia, Hospital Sant Joan de Reus, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili. Avinguda, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2, 43204 Reus, Spain
Monica Real
Servei Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
David Riesco
Servei Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Marta París
Servei de Cirurgia, Hospital Sant Joan de Reus, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili. Avinguda, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2, 43204 Reus, Spain
Daniel Del Castillo
Servei de Cirurgia, Hospital Sant Joan de Reus, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili. Avinguda, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2, 43204 Reus, Spain
Cristóbal Richart
Grup d’Estudi de Malalties Metabòliques associades a Insulino Resistència (GEMMAIR)–AGAUR, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Teresa Auguet
Servei Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 4, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Recent studies suggest a link between pro-neurotensin (pro-NT) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the published data are conflicting. Thus, we aimed to analyze pro-NT levels in women with morbid obesity (MO) and NAFLD to investigate if this molecule is involved in NAFLD and liver lipid metabolism. Plasma levels of pro-NT were determined in 56 subjects with MO and 18 with normal weight (NW). All patients with MO were subclassified according to their liver histology into the normal liver (NL, n = 20) and NAFLD (n = 36) groups. The NAFLD group had 17 subjects with simple steatosis (SS) and 19 with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We used a chemiluminescence sandwich immunoassay to quantify pro-NT in plasma and RT-qPCR to evaluate the hepatic mRNA levels of several lipid metabolism-related genes. We reported that pro-NT levels were significantly higher in MO with NAFLD than in MO without NAFLD. Additionally, pro-NT levels were higher in NASH patients than in NL. The hepatic expression of lipid metabolism-related genes was found to be altered in NAFLD, as previously reported. Additionally, although pro-NT levels correlated with LDL, there was no association with the main lipid metabolism-related genes. These findings suggest that pro-NT could be related to NAFLD progression.
