Plasma adiponectin concentration in relation to severity of coronary atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged men.
Adiponectin, an adipocyte-derived protein, seems to be a link between obesity, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis. The present study investigated the association between adiponectin and coronary artery disease in middle-aged men.


METHODS
We examined 48 men (aged 40-60) with angiographically confirmed coronary atherosclerosis and 19 healthy men, matched by age, as a control group. Concentrations of glucose and lipids were estimated with enzymatic methods. Plasma level of adiponectin, total and free testosterone, estradiol, estrone, DHEA-S, and insulin were estimated with RIA commercial kits.


RESULTS
Men with coronary atherosclerosis had lower plasma adiponectin level than controls (16.2+/-9.2 vs 20.5+/-6.7 microg/mL; p<0.05). However, after including BMI and waist as covariate data in ANCOVA, the difference in adiponectin levels between men with CAD and controls lost statistical significance (respectively for BMI and waist: p=0.4 and p=0.7). Moreover, although not significant, adiponectin levels decreased as a function of the number of significantly narrowed coronary arteries. In a priori comparison the lowest adiponectin plasma concentration was in men with three-vessel coronary artery disease (14.3+/-9.8 microg/mL) and the high-est in controls (20.5+/-6.8 microg/mL; p=0.09). Adiponectin plasma level correlated negatively (p<0.05) with BMI, waist, percentage of total fat, fasting-insulin-resistance index (FIRI), total cholesterol and triglycerides, and positively with quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), HDL cholesterol, total testosterone, and total testosterone/estradiol ratio.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that low plasma adiponectin level is connected with insulin resistance syndrome and atherogenic lipid profile. It seems that adiponectin plays a role in pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis, especially in obese and insulin-resistant subjects.
Dunajska
Katarzyna
K
Department of Health Promotion and Hygiene, Wroclaw University of Physical Education, Poland. dunajska@mp.pl
Milewicz
Andrzej
A
Jedrzejuk
Diana
D
Szymczak
Jadwiga
J
Kuliczkowski
Wiktor
W
Salomon
Piotr
P
Bialy
Dariusz
D
Poczatek
Karol
K
Nowicki
Przemysław
P
D052242:Adiponectin; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
D052242:Adiponectin; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol