Role of adipokines in the assessment of severity and predicting the clinical course of acute pancreatitis.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common diseases requiring hospitalization with increasing incidence. This pathology has variable severity and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis, including prognosis of clinical course of the disease is key in the initial clinical management. However, currently available prognostic markers have variable efficacy and the limited utility. Adipokines that are released from the peripancreatic adipose tissue during AP may represent the easy to use and practical AP prognostic markers. This review discusses the current state of knowledge concerning the clinical value of the adipokines in AP, such as adiponectin, ghrelin, interleukin 6, interleukin 8, interleukin 18, leptin, neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin, obestatin, resistin, visfatin. Among described adipokines, interleukin 6, neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin and resistin seem to be the most valuable as the diagnostic and prognostic markers in AP.