Objectives: Relaxin-3 was found to play a role in appetite regulation, increasing food intake and body weight. The current study aimed to investigate the relation of relaxin-3 to metabolic syndrome and its component traits in women.
Design and methods: The study was conducted on 300 female subjects, 150 healthy control and 150 metabolic syndrome patients. The component traits of metabolic syndrome were determined for all participants.
Results: Serum relaxin-3 level was significantly higher in the metabolic syndrome patients than in the healthy control group. It was also significantly correlated with all the component traits of metabolic syndrome.
Conclusion: The results suggest that metabolic syndrome is associated with increased serum relaxin-3 levels in women. Relaxin-3 might be considered as a potential biomarker of metabolic syndrome.
Copyright © 2012 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.