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Original Article

Serum milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein as a potential biomarker for metabolic syndrome

Clinical and Molecular Hepatology 2021;27(3):463-473.
Published online: February 15, 2021

1Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

2Department of Internal Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

3Department of Biostatistics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding author : Yeon Seok Seo Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, 73 Goryeodae-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea Tel: +82-2-920-6608, Fax: +82-2-953-1943 E-mail: drseo@koera.ac.kr
Do-Sun Lim Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, 73 Goryeodae-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea Tel: +82-2-920-6608, Fax: +82-2-927-1478 E-mail: dslmd@kumc.or.kr

Editor: Salvatore Piano, University of Padova Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Italy


Han Ah Lee and Jihwan Lim equally contributed to this work as co-first authors.

• Received: December 18, 2020   • Revised: January 27, 2021   • Accepted: February 9, 2021

Copyright © 2021 by The Korean Association for the Study of the Liver

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Citations

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Serum milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein as a potential biomarker for metabolic syndrome
Clin Mol Hepatol. 2021;27(3):463-473.   Published online February 15, 2021
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Serum milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein as a potential biomarker for metabolic syndrome
Image Image Image Image
Figure 1. Flowchart of enrolled subjects. MFG-E8, milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein.
Figure 2. Correlation of serum MFG-E8 level and components of metabolic syndrome. (A) Waist circumference. (B) Diastolic blood pressure. (C) Total cholesterol. (D) HDL-cholesterol. (E) Triglyceride. (F) Glucose levels. MFG-E8, milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein.
Figure 3. AUROC of MFG-E8 level in the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome at baseline. AUROC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; MFG-E8, milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein.
Graphical abstract
Serum milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein as a potential biomarker for metabolic syndrome
Variable All subjects (n=556) Subjects without metabolic syndrome (n=320) Subjects with metabolic syndrome (n=236) P-value
Demographic variables
Age (years) 55.1±6.5 55.6±6.1 54.3±7.0 0.026
Male 277 (49.8) 133 (41.6) 144 (61.0) <0.001
Waist circumference (cm) 87.9±8.0 85.0±7.7 91.8±6.6 <0.001
Body mass index (kg/m2) 25.8±2.9 25.0±2.9 26.8±2.6 <0.001
Alcohol drinking 325 (58.5) 181 (56.6) 144 (61.0) 0.292
Current smoker 212 (38.1) 117 (36.6) 95 (40.3) 0.376
Monthly income (won) 0.060
None 109 (19.6) 72 (22.5) 37 (15.7)
0 to 2,000,000 105 (18.9) 56 (17.5) 49 (20.8)
2,000,000 to 4,000,000 290 (52.2) 157 (49.1) 133 (56.4)
>4,000,000 52 (9.4) 35 (10.9) 17 (7.2)
Regular exercise 226 (40.6) 141 (44.1) 85 (36.0) 0.056
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 127.4±14.1 123.8±13.5 132.3±13.4 <0.001
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 81.6±9.3 79.4±9.0 84.7±8.7 <0.001
Laboratory variables
Total cholesterol (mg/dL) 198.2±34.3 198.5±34.9 197.8±33.5 0.810
LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) 128.2±33.3 131.0±32.9 129.5±33.4 0.124
HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) 51.5±12.5 55.3±11.9 46.3±11.4 <0.001
Triglyceride (mg/dL) 157.4±92.7 120.4±51.3 207.5±111.0 <0.001
Glucose (mg/dL) 100.8±18.9 96.7±14.1 106.3±22.8 <0.001
Creatinine (mg/dL) 0.83±0.16 0.82±0.15 0.85±0.16 0.001
High sensitivity CRP (mg/dL) 1.27±2.43 1.10±1.85 1.49±3.04 0.064
Apolipoprotein AI (mg/dL) 77.3±15.8 78.4±15.3 75.8±16.5 0.081
MFG-E8 (pg/mL) 4,195.0±1,735.7 3,786.0±1,329.5 4,749.4±2,044.4 <0.001
Pulse wave velocity (m/s) 13.9±2.1 13.7±2.2 14.2±198.5 0.005
Variable Group 1 (n=401, 72.1%) Group 2 (n=155, 27.9%) P-value
Age (years) 56.0±6.6 55.1±6.4 0.977
Male 179 (44.6) 98 (63.2) <0.001
Waist circumference (cm) 87.3±8.0 89.3±7.7 0.008
Body mass index (kg/m2) 25.7±2.9 25.9±2.9 0.479
Alcohol drinking 226 (56.4) 99 (30.5) 0.107
Current smoker 154 (38.4) 58 (37.4) 0.830
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 126.8±14.6 129.1±12.5 0.087
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 80.8±9.4 83.8±8.5 <0.001
Total cholesterol (mg/dL) 195.5±33.0 205.3±36.4 0.002
LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) 128.2±31.6 128.3±37.4 0.988
HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) 52.9±12.9 47.8±10.7 <0.001
Triglyceride (mg/dL) 130.4±59.5 227.1±122.3 <0.001
Glucose (mg/dL) 99.0±14.7 105.5±26.3 0.004
Creatinine (mg/dL) 0.82±0.16 0.85±0.16 0.029
High sensitivity CRP (mg/dL) 1.21±2.30 1.40±2.75 0.415
Apolipoprotein AI (mg/dL) 77.3±16.0 77.4±15.3 0.905
Pulse wave velocity (m/s) 13.8±2.1 14.2±2.2 0.017
Variable Metabolic syndrome at baseline
Metabolic syndrome development at follow-up
Univariate
Multivariate
Univariate
Multivariate
P-value OR (95% CI) P-value P-value OR (95% CI) P-value
Age (years) 0.024 0.993 (0.964–1.022) 0.628 0.016 0.981 (0.954–1.008) 0.162
Male <0.001 1.818 (1.076–3.074) 0.026 0.051
Body mass index (kg/m2) <0.001 1.273 (1.183–1.369) <0.001 <0.001 1.137 (1.067–1.212) <0.001
Alcohol drinking 0.872 0.998
Current smoker 0.801 0.360
Regular exercise 0.057 0.022 0.714 (0.502–1.016) 0.061
Total cholesterol (mg/dL) 0.809 0.521
LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) 0.024 0.994 (0.989–1.000) 0.085 0.975
Creatinine (mg/dL) 0.001 0.667 (0.126–3.525) 0.633 0.120
High sensitivity CRP (mg/dL) 0.081 0.330
Apolipoprotein AI (mg/dL) 0.061 0.330
MFG-E8 ≥4,745.1 pg/mL <0.001 3.493 (2.298–5.311) <0.001 <0.001 1.971 (1.333–2.915) 0.001
Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study subjects according to the presence of metabolic syndrome

Values are presented as mean±standard deviation or number (%).

LDL, low-density lipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; CRP, C-reactive protein; MFG-E8, milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein.

Table 2. Baseline characteristics of the study subjects according to the groups classified by serum MFG-E8 level

Values are presented as mean±standard deviation or number (%).

Group 1, serum MFG-E8 level <4,745.1 pg/mL; and group 2, serum MFG-E8 level ≥4,745.1 pg/mL.

MFG-E8, milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; CRP, C-reactive protein.

Table 3. Predictors for diagnosis and further development of metabolic syndrome

Logistic regression analysis was performed for metabolic syndrome at baseline, and Cox regression analysis was performed for metabolic syndrome development.

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; CRP, C-reactive protein; MFG-E8, milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein.