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World J Diabetes. Jul 15, 2026; 17(7): 120779
Published online Jul 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.120779
Published online Jul 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.120779
Irisin levels in patients with prediabetes mellitus: A case-control study and meta-analysis
Li-Wen Song, Li-Na Chang, Xin Wang, Qing He, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China
Li-Wen Song, Department of Medical, Weifang People’s Hospital, Weifang 261041, Shandong Province, China
Wen-Wen Huang, Qian-Qian Sun, Department of Endocrinology, Weifang People’s Hospital, Weifang 261041, Shandong Province, China
Xiao-Long Wang, Department of Emergency, Weifang People’s Hospital, Weifang 261041, Sh
Co-first authors: Li-Wen Song and Wen-Wen Huang.
Author contributions: Song LW and Huang WW contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Song LW designed the study and developed the retrieve strategy; Huang WW and Wang X were responsible for searching and screening the summaries and titles, assessing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, generating data collection forms and extracting data, and evaluating the quality of the study; Chang LN and Sun QQ performed meta-analysis; Song LW and Wang XL drafted the article; He Q reviewed and revised the article; and all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: No ChatGPT, Grammarly, DeepL or any other AI tools have been used in the whole process of manuscript writing, language polishing, data analysis, study design, result interpretation and image production. All content of the manuscript is independently completed by the authors.
Supported by Science and Technology Development Project of the Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University Funds, No. 2023FYM015; and Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project, No. TJYXZDXK-3-002C.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital (Approval No. IRB2024-YX-139-01).
Informed consent statement: All subjects were provided with and signed an informed consent form.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article. For further questions, please reach out to the corresponding authors.
Corresponding author: Qing He, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tianjin Me
Received: March 9, 2026
Revised: April 2, 2026
Accepted: May 14, 2026
Published online: July 15, 2026
Processing time: 123 Days and 23.6 Hours
Revised: April 2, 2026
Accepted: May 14, 2026
Published online: July 15, 2026
Processing time: 123 Days and 23.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study suggests that methodological variability between commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits may contribute to the conflicting literature on circulating irisin in prediabetes, supported by poor inter-assay agreement in this cohort. After rigorously controlling for metabolic confounders, the observed association between prediabetes and irisin disappears, shifting the focus from irisin as a simple biomarker to the critical need for assay standardization and robust study design in future research.