• Francesca De Vito, Velia Cassano, Elettra Mancuso, Elena Succurro, Marta Letizia Hribal, Angela Sciacqua, Francesco Andreozzi, Giorgio Sesti, and Teresa Vanessa Fiorentino.
• Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
• J. Intern. Med. 2023 Sep 1; 294 (3): 336346336-346.

BackgroundNeurotensin (NT), an intestinal peptide able to promote fat absorption, is implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity. Increased levels of proneurotensin (pro-NT), a stable NT precursor fragment, have been found in subjects with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); however, whether higher pro-NT levels are associated with an increased NAFLD risk independently of other metabolic risk factors is unsettled.MethodsUltrasound-defined presence of NAFLD was assessed on 303 subjects stratified into tertiles according to fasting pro-NT levels. The longitudinal association between pro-NT levels and NAFLD was explored on the study participants without NAFLD at baseline reexamined after 5 years of follow-up (n = 124).ResultsIndividuals with higher pro-NT levels exhibited increased adiposity, a worse lipid profile, and insulin sensitivity as compared to the lowest tertile of pro-NT. Prevalence of NAFLD was progressively increased in the intermediate and highest pro-NT tertile as compared to the lowest tertile. In a logistic regression analysis adjusted for several confounders, individuals with higher pro-NT levels displayed a raised risk of having NAFLD (OR = 3.43, 95%CI = 1.48-7.97, p = 0.004) than those in the lowest pro-NT tertile. Within the study cohort without NAFLD at baseline, subjects with newly diagnosed NAFLD at follow-up exhibited higher baseline pro-NT levels than those without incident NAFLD. In a cox hazard regression analysis model adjusted for anthropometric and metabolic parameters collected at baseline and follow-up visit, higher baseline pro-NT levels were associated with an increased risk of incident NAFLD (HR = 1.52, 95%CI = 1.017-2.282, p = 0.04).ConclusionHigher pro-NT levels are a predictor of NAFLD independent of other metabolic risk factors.© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Internal Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Publication of The Journal of Internal Medicine.

12 keywords...

hide…