Elevated soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor levels in non-obese adults with the atherogenic dyslipoproteinemia

Adipose tissue expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity-linked insulin resistance and the dyslipoproteinemia of insulin resistance. This study has two aims: (1) to compare select inflammatory mediators in non-smoking, normoglycemic male subjects with and without the atherogenic dyslipoproteinemia (ADL), and (2) to determine the effects of statin therapy on select inflammatory mediators. ADL subjects had higher levels of insulin (16.7 ± 7.5 versus 11.6 ± 5.9 μIU/mL, P = 0.008), soluble TNF receptor superfamily 1B (sTNFRSF1B) (3.3 ± 0.7 versus 2.7 ± 0.5 ng/mL, P = 0.005), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (2.6 ± 2.2 versus 1.3 ± 1.8 pg/mL, P = 0.006) as compared to those of the non-ADL subjects. After adjustment for age, sTNFRSF1B (P = 0.003) was more predictive of ADL than high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (P = 0.047). Statin therapy did not change sTNFRSF1B, TNF-α, IL-6, hs-CRP, whereas soluble TNF receptor superfamily 1A (sTNFRSF1A) increased slightly (P = 0.048). A high level of sTNFRSF1B is a strong marker of the pro-inflammatory state in this sample of male ADL subjects.