Efficacy of resistin and leptin in predicting persistent organ failure in patients with acute pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the accuracy of resistin, leptin and adiponectin levels in predicting persistent organ failure in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP).

METHODS: Data from 90 consecutive patients admitted to our hospital for AP were retrospectively collected from an ongoing prospective cohort study. The levels of adiponectin, leptin and resistin were measured and compared between patients with and without persistent organ failure. The accuracy of the adipokines in predicting persistent organ failure were compared with the patients' Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE-II) score, and were separately investigated in overweight and non-overweight groups.

RESULTS: Persistent organ failure occurred in 26.7% of the patients. The levels of resistin were significantly increased in AP patients with persistent organ failure, in both the overweight and the non-overweight subgroups. Resistin and APACHE-II score predicted persistent organ failure with comparable areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.72 and 0.75, respectively (p = 0.66). Resistin demonstrated similar accuracy with the APACHE-II score in predicting persistent organ failure in the overweight (0.69 vs. 0.66, p = 0.82) and non-overweight (0.76 vs. 0.87, p = 0.39) subgroups. There was no correlation between adiponectin and persistent organ failure, but a weak correlation between leptin and persistent organ failure was demonstrated.

CONCLUSIONS: Resistin and leptin levels, rather than adiponectin, correlate with persistent organ failure in patients with AP.