Title |
Circulating retinol binding protein 4 levels in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
|
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Published in |
Lipids in Health and Disease, September 2017
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DOI | 10.1186/s12944-017-0566-7 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Zhongwei Zhou, Hongmei Chen, Huixiang Ju, Mingzhong Sun |
Abstract |
Retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) is implicated in obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus that are closely associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, recent investigations regarding circulating RBP4 levels in NAFLD are conflicting. This meta-analysis is to determine whether NAFLD, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and simple steatosis (SS) patients have altered RBP4 levels. We performed a systematic search in PubMed, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library up until 18 March 2017, and 12 studies comprising a total of 4247 participants (2271 NAFLD patients and 1976 controls) were included in the meta-analysis. There were no significant differences of circulating RBP4 levels in the following comparisons: (1) NAFLD patients vs controls (standardized mean differences [SMD]: 0.08; 95% CI: -0.21, 0.38); (2) NASH patients vs controls (SMD: -0.49; 95% CI: -1.09, 0.12); (3) SS patients vs controls (SMD: -0.72; 95% CI: -1.64, 0.20) and (4) NASH vs SS patients (SMD: -0.04; 95% CI: -0.32, 0.24). The results remained essentially unchanged in the comparisons between NAFLD patients and controls after excluding single individual study or bariatric studies (n = 2). No significant publication bias was detected. However, there was significant heterogeneity among studies and the subgroup and meta-regression analyses did not find the potential sources. Circulating RBP4 levels may not be associated with NAFLD. Further prospective cohort studies are required to confirm these findings. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 37 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 5 | 14% |
Student > Master | 5 | 14% |
Researcher | 4 | 11% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 8% |
Other | 3 | 8% |
Other | 6 | 16% |
Unknown | 11 | 30% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 7 | 19% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 11% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 3 | 8% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 5% |
Chemistry | 2 | 5% |
Other | 5 | 14% |
Unknown | 14 | 38% |