Maternal inheritance of circulating irisin in humans (954.1)

Background The recently discovered myokine irisin has been implicated in several observational studies, suggesting a potential therapeutic target for obesity‐related diseases. However, no information is available as to the heritability of this hormone. This study aims to fill this gap. Methods A total of 120 families (N=254;121 adults and 133 children) were included in this study taken from the Biomarkers Research Program cohort. Information included anthropometrics, glycemic, lipid and adipocytokine profiles. Irisin was measured using ELISA. Results The most significant heritable traits in sons included irisin (p=1.6*10‐5), systolic blood pressure (p=3.6*10‐4), LDL‐ (p=1.2*10‐6) and total cholesterol (p=3.5*10‐7). Heritable traits between mother and daughter again included irisin (p<0.002), as well as waist (p<0.01), hips (p<0.005) and blood pressure (p<0.002); HDL‐cholesterol was the single most significant predictor for irisin in adults, explaining 17% of variance, whilst in children angiotensin II was the most significant predictor of irisin explaining 19% of variance (p=0.003). Conclusion Circulating irisin appears to be maternally inherited and is predicted by HDL‐cholesterol in adults and angiotensin II in children, both factors influenced by energy expenditure and regulation. Taken together, these findings suggest a significant role of irisin in energy‐generating processes.