Association of metabolic syndrome with serum fibroblast growth factor 21 in kidney transplanted patients

Introduction: Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a metabolic regulator with multiple beneficial effects on glucose and lipid homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between the serum level of FGF21 with and metabolic syndrome (MS) in kidney transplant recipients. Patients and Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study on 86 stable renal transplant recipients to detect possible relation between serum FGF21 level and MS during October 2014 and Mach 2015. Patients with past history of diabetes mellitus were excluded. Results: There were 43 patients in each group with and without MS. Totally, they were 52 (60.5%) male and 34 (39.5%) female. The mean age of the MS group was significantly higher than that of non-MS group. There was not significant difference between mean serum creatinine level and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between two groups (P > 0.05). The MS patients had higher weight and body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.05). The prevalence of BMI >25 kg/m2 in MS group was 25 (58.8%) versus non-MS group that only 10 (23.3%) had this condition (P < 0.05). The mean of FGF21 level in MS and non-MS groups was 1.23 ± 0.67 ng/l and 1.18 ± 0.71 ng/l, respectively (P > 0.05). There was not significant difference of serum FGF21 level between MS and non-MS patients (P > 0.05). Conclusion: While the elevated serum FGF21 level was found in subjects with insulin resistant states, however, this study revealed that serum FGF21 levels were not significantly increased in renal transplanted recipients with MS as compared with non-MS group.