The role of total and high-molecular-weight complex of adiponectin in vascular function in offspring whose parents both had type 2 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
Adiponectin is an adipokine with insulin-sensitising and anti-atherogenic properties. We studied the role played by total adiponectin and by the bioactive high-molecular-weight (HMW) oligomeric complexes of adiponectin in vascular function in offspring whose parents both had type 2 diabetes, a population at high risk of diabetes and atherosclerosis.


METHODS
Total and %HMW adiponectin, the cytokines C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), as well as lipid profiles were assayed in 19 offspring, each with two type 2 diabetic parents. Subjects underwent OGTTs and IVGTTs. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDV) was assessed by brachial artery ultrasonography.


RESULTS
There was a significant relationship between %HMW and total adiponectin levels (r=0.72, p=0.001). Despite an expected strong positive correlation between HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin levels (r=0.52, p=0.04), as well as HDL-cholesterol and EDV (r=0.56, p<0.02), there was no significant relationship between either total adiponectin or % HMW adiponectin and EDV. Adiponectin was inversely associated with PAI-1 (r=0.50, p=0.05), but did not correlate with the inflammatory markers C-reactive protein or interleukin-6.


CONCLUSIONS
In offspring of diabetic parents, a population at high risk of diabetes and atherosclerotic disease, there is no relationship between total or %HMW adiponectin and endothelium-dependent vasodilation. However, low adiponectin was associated with impaired fibrinolysis as manifested by increased levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1.
Halperin
F
F
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Beckman
J A
JA
Patti
M E
ME
Trujillo
M E
ME
Garvin
M
M
Creager
M A
MA
Scherer
P E
PE
Goldfine
A B
AB
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008970:Molecular Weight; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology
D052242:Adiponectin; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D016207:Cytokines