Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for circulating human resistin: resistin concentrations in normal subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes

Background: Resistin is a recently identified adipocyte-secreted hormone in rodents, and has been proposed to serve as a link between obesity and insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to develop a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for human resistin and evaluate serum resistin concentrations in normal subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Using ELISA developed by two polyclonal antibodies, resistin concentrations were measured in 90 patients with type 2 diabetes and compared to 74 healthy control subjects. Results: This ELISA has high specificity and sensitivity over the concentration of range 0.5–100 ng/ml with good percentage recovery (97.1±4.7%) and reproducibility (within-day assay, CV=4.8–8.6%; between-day assay, CV=5.6–9.7%). The mean concentration of resistin in sera from type 2 diabetic patients was significantly higher than that in normal subjects (mean±S.E.: 20.8±0.7 vs. 14.9±0.5 ng/ml, p