title: Early atherosclerosis in obese juveniles is associated with low serum levels of adiponectin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is growing evidence that adiponectin, the most abundant adipocytokine of adipose tissue cells, plays a crucial role in advanced atherosclerosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to evaluate the role of adiponectin in early atherosclerosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred forty obese juveniles (mean age, 13.5 +/- 4.4 yr) and 100 age-matched, healthy, normal-weight controls from the STYrian Juvenile Obesity Study were investigated. We measured adipocytokines, inflammatory biomarkers, parameters of insulin resistance, and lipid subfractions. Intima-media thickness (IMT) of common carotid arteries was determined by ultrasonography. Furthermore, lipometric measurements were performed in obese juveniles to determine the topographic distribution of sc adipose tissue (SAT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with controls, the group of obese juveniles exhibited a significantly increased IMT (P < 0.001) and elevated high-sensitive C-reactive protein (P < 0.001), indicating early stages of atherosclerosis. Serum levels of adiponectin were highly significantly negatively correlated with carotid IMT, even after controlling for common cardiovascular risk factors (P < 0.001; r = -0.34). Furthermore, adiponectin was positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein-free cholesterol and serum apolipoprotein-A1 and negatively with triglycerides, insulin resistance, uric acid, and serum transaminases. By a multiple regression analysis, adiponectin was shown to be the strongest predictive variable for carotid IMT. Finally, adiponectin was found positively correlated with SAT thickness of the rear and inner thigh in boys and negatively with the SAT thickness of the neck in girls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, our study describes an influence of SAT topography on adiponectin serum levels and provides first evidence that incipient atherosclerosis is associated with low serum levels of this adipocytokine.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Medical University of Graz, A-8036 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pilz
authors.forename: Renate
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Horejsi
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: Gunter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Almer
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scharnagl
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stojakovic
authors.forename: Roumiana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dimitrova
authors.forename: Gisela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Weihrauch
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borkenstein
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maerz
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schauenstein
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mangge
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood*; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D052242:Adiponectin; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008055:Lipids