Chronic ethanol consumption increases the levels of chemerin in the serum and adipose tissue of humans and rats.

Aim: Chemerin is a new adipokine involved in adipogenesis and insulin resistance. Since ethanol affects the insulin sensitivity that is closely associated with adipokines. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ethanol on chemerin in humans and rats.

Methods: In the human study, 148 men who consumed alcohol for more than 3 years and 55 men who abstained from alcohol were included. Based on ethanol consumption per day, the drinkers were classified into 3 groups: low-dose (<15 g/d), middle-dose (15-47.9 g/d) and high-dose (≥48 g/d). Anthropometric measurements and serum parameters were collected. In the rat study, 27 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups administered water or ethanol (0.5, 2.5, or 5 g·kg(-1)·d(-1)) for 22 weeks. The chemerin levels in the sera, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and liver were measured using ELISA.

Results: In the high-dose group of humans and middle- and high-dose groups of rats, chronic ethanol consumption significantly increased the serum chemerin level. Both the middle- and high-dose ethanol significantly increased the chemerin level in the VAT of rats. In humans, triglyceride, fasting glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR were independently associated with chemerin. In rats, the serum chemerin level was positively correlated with chemerin in the VAT after adjustments for the liver chemerin (r=+0.768). High-dose ethanol significantly increased the body fat in humans and the VAT in rats.

Conclusion: Chronic ethanol consumption dose-dependently increases the chemerin levels in the serum and VAT. The serum chemerin level is associated with metabolic parameters in humans. The increased serum chemerin level is mainly attributed to an elevation of chemerin in the VAT after the ethanol treatment.