Background
Previous studies have shown that leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2), a hepatokine, is associated with obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is well known that hepatokines play important roles in mediating interactions among bone, adipose tissue, and liver. We sought to examine serum LECT2 levels in subjects with osteoporosis (OP) to confirm its association with OP.
Methods
From March 2019 to March 2020, a total of 96 adult subjects (52 OP patients and 44 controls) visiting the 2nd Spine Department of the Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine of Ningbo University were recruited. The bone mineral density (BMD) of all subjects were assessed by dual-energy X-ray (DXA). Blood samples were collected for measurements of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), plasma glucose (PG), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), creatinine and uric acid. Serum LECT2 levels of total 96 participants were measured by enzyme linked immunesorbent assay (ELISA). The relationships between serum LECT2 levels and biomedical parameters were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient.
Results
Serum LECT2 levels in OP patients were significantly higher than that of healthy controls (29.57 ng/mL VS 19.82 ng/mL, P < 0.01). To confirm the role LECT2 played in OP, we found a significantly negative correlation in all subjects between serum levels of LECT2 and lumbar BMD, as well as femoralneck BMD. A significantly positive correlation in all was observed between serum levels of LECT2 and TC, whereas there was a significantly negative correlation between serum levels of LECT2 and creatinine. Meanwhile, serum LECT2 levels were measured to diagnose OP patient by plotting receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the area under the ROC curve was 0.729(P < 0.01). The optimal cutoff point for LECT2 concentration to diagnose OP patient was 16.44 ng/mL.
Conclusions
We showed that serum LECT2 levels were significantly up-regulated in OP patients, and LECT2 levels were significant positively associated with total cholesterol and negatively associated with creatinine. It could be a potential biomarker for OP diagnosis.