Periostin on the road to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Periostin Circulating Levels and Genetic Variants in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Circulating periostin has been suggested as a possible biomarker in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Asian studies. In the present study, we aimed to test its still controversial relevance in a Caucasian population. In patients with histologically-proven NAFLD (N. = 74; 10 with hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC) plasma periostin concentrations were analyzed. POSTN haplotype analysis was based on rs9603226, rs3829365, and rs1029728. Hepatitis C patients (N. = 81, 7 HCC) and healthy subjects (N. = 27) were used as controls. The median plasma periostin concentration was 11.6 ng/mL without differences amongst groups; it was not influenced by age, liver fibrosis or steatosis. However, possession of haplotype two (rs9603226 = G, rs3829365 = C, rs1028728 = A) was associated with lower circulating periostin compared to other haplotypes. Moreover, periostin was higher in HCC patients. At multivariate analysis, HCC remained the only predictor of high periostin. In conclusion, plasma periostin concentrations in Caucasians NAFLD patients are not influenced by the degree of liver disease, but are significantly higher in HCC. Genetically-determined differences may account for some of the variability. These data suggest extreme caution in predicting a possible future role of periostin antagonists as a rational therapeutic alternative for NAFLD, but show a potential periostin role in the management of NAFLD-associated HCC.

Periostin and sclerostin levels in juvenile Paget's disease

Juvenile Paget's disease (JPD) is a rare, autosomal recessive disorder featuring markedly increased serum alkaline phosphatase activity, indicative of greatly accelerated bone turnover throughout the skeleton. The main aim of this study was to evaluate circulating periostin and sclerostin levels in two adult patients with mild JPD (due to "Balkan" mutation). We measured periostin and sclerostin levels in a previously described woman and a newly diagnosed man with JPD, and 10 apparently healthy individuals, matched (1:5) to JPD patients for gender, age and body mass index. Sclerostin levels were similar between JPD patients and controls. Periostin levels were about 2.5 times higher in JPD patients. Periostin and sclerostin levels were negatively correlated (rs= -0.63; p=0.03). In conclusion, a trend towards higher periostin levels was observed in JPD patients, whereas sclerostin levels were similar to controls.

Low periostin levels in adult patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis are independently associated with the disease activity

PURPOSE

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare proliferative disease of cells of the CD1a+/CD207+ myeloid dendritic cell lineage that may infiltrate one or more organs or systems at all ages. We aimed to evaluate periostin and sclerostin serum levels in adult patients with LCH.

PROCEDURES

This was a cross-sectional study comparing 38 adult patients with LCH with 38 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Serum periostin and sclerostin levels were measured to compare between LCH patients and controls as well as between patients with active and non-active disease.

RESULTS

Serum periostin levels were significantly lower in LCH patients than controls (457±72ng/ml vs. 721±79ng/ml, p=0.014) but this was not the case for sclerostin levels which did not differ between patients and controls, respectively (29.0±1.8pmol/L vs. 39.5±3.8pmol/L, p=0.12). Patients with active disease had significantly lower periostin levels than those with inactive disease (240±78ng/ml vs. 558±94ng/ml, p=0.008). No effect of specific site involvement, extend of disease, or treatment administered was found on any of the above parameters measured.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower serum periostin levels were observed in adult LCH patients with active disease. The finding warrants further investigation to define whether periostin could serve as a serum biomarker for LCH activity.