Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 International Urology and Nephrology https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-020-02582-z NEPHROLOGY - ORIGINAL PAPER The relationship between serum adipokines and glucose homeostasis in normal‑weight and obese patients on hemodialysis: a preliminary study Elham Alipoor 1,2  · Mehdi Yaseri 3  · Parvaneh Mehrdadi 2  · Mitra Mahdavi‑Mazdeh 4  · Tim Murphy 5  · Mohammad Javad Hosseinzadeh‑Attar 1,6 Received: 28 March 2020 / Accepted: 25 July 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract Purpose Insulin resistance (IR) is a prevalent disorder in advanced renal failure irrespective of diabetes. Adipokines might play a role in IR, which has not been well-documented in uremic conditions. This study investigated the relationship of Zinc-α 2 -glycoprotein (ZAG), adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), and adipolin with glucose–insulin homeostasis in normal weight (NW) and obese (OB) patients with hemodialysis. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 59 patients (29 NW; 18.5 ≤ BMI < 25 kg/m 2 , and 30 OB; BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 ) were studied. Anthropometries, circulating ZAG, adipolin, ATGL, free fatty acids (FFAs), fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA)-IR were assessed. Results There were no signifcant diferences in age, gender, hemodialysis duration, dialysis adequacy and diabetes between the two groups. ZAG (100.9 ± 37.1 vs. 107.5 ± 30.5 ng/mL, P = 0.03) and adipolin (12.4 ± 1.6 vs. 13.2 ± 2.8 ng/mL, P = 0.002) concentrations were signifcantly lower, and FFAs (228.1 ± 112.6 vs. 185 ± 119 ng/mL, P = 0.014) were signifcantly higher in the OB than NW group. No signifcant diferences were observed in ATGL, FBG, insulin and HOMA-IR between the two groups. Patients with lower IR had higher ZAG (112.9 ± 31.7 vs. 94.9 ± 34.5 ng/mL; P = 0.046), lower FFAs (167.8 ± 98.4 vs. 249.9 ± 120.8 ng/mL; P = 0.004), and marginally lower ATGL (9.1 ± 5.2 vs. 12.3 ± 9.6 mIU/mL; P = 0.079) concentra- tions than those with higher IR. ZAG was negatively (r = − 0.323, P = 0.018 and r = − 0.266, P = 0.054) and FFAs were positively (r = 0.321, P = 0.019 and r = 0.353, P = 0.009) correlated with insulin and HOMA-IR, respectively. ATGL was directly correlated with FFAs (r = 0.314, P = 0.018). Conclusions Novel adipokines, ZAG and ATGL, might contribute to glucose–insulin homeostasis in hemodialysis. Under- standing potential causative, diagnostic or therapeutic roles of adipokines in IR require further studies. Keywords Obesity · Insulin resistance · Hemodialysis · Adipokine * Mohammad Javad Hosseinzadeh-Attar hosseinzadeh.md.phd@gmail.com; mhosseinzadeh@tums.ac.ir 1 Cardiac Primary Prevention Research Center, Cardiovascular Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 4 Iranian Tissue Bank and Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 5 Centre of Research Excellence in Translating Nutritional Science to Good Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia 6 Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, No#44, Hojjatdoust St., Naderi St., Keshavarz Blvd., Tehran, Iran