Serum Reg-Ialpha is not suitable marker of metabolic syndrome.

Background: Reg-1alpha plays a role in various types of tissue regeneration.

Aim: To evaluate serum Reg-1alpha for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.

Methods: 14 non-obese, healthy subjects and 15 individuals with metabolic syndrome were studied. Anthropometric and laboratory analysis in sera (Body Mass Index--BMI, insulin, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, uric acid, aglucose, Quicki calculation, Reg-1alpha) were performed.

Results: Reg-1alpha levels did not differ between subjects with metabolic syndrome and healthy subjects (means 597.7 vs. 631.1 ng/l, p < 0.01) and positively correlated only with fasting glucose (r = 0.34; p < 0.01) and age (r = 0.38; p < 0.01); Reg-1alpha correlated even after adjustment to age. Reg-lalpha concentrations did not differ in men and women.

Conclusions: Our study, for the first time, indicates that serum Reg-1alpha is not useful for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome (Tab. 3, Ref. 7).