[Serum adiponectin levels in patients with acromegaly].
Acromegaly is frequently associated with impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes. Insulin resistance has been reported to be related to low levels of adiponectin, which is exclusively produced by adipose tissue, as well as to decreased concentration of sex hormone binding globuline (SHBG). Growth hormone (GH) excess is associated with increased muscle mass and decreased fat mass. Influence of GH on production and secretion of adiponectin is not completely understood. The aims of this study were to assess serum adiponectin levels in patients with active acromegaly and to compare them with concentrations in the control group and to investigate relationships between adiponectin and indexes: body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) as well as SHBG levels.


METHODS
Serum adiponectin and SHBG levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in 30 patients with active acromegaly and in 22 sex-, age-, BMI- and WHR-matched controls. The groups were comparable in prevalence of hypertension and disturbances of glucose metabolism.


RESULTS
Serum adiponectin concentrations were higher in acromegalic patients compared with control group (24.03 +/- 9.85 mg/ml vs. 14.46 +/- 3.96 mg/ml, p<0.001). When the subjects were fallen into two groups according to sex, significant differences were also observed. Serum SHBG levels were lower in cases compared with controls (25.36 +/- 22.89 nmol/l vs. 33.54 +/- 15.07 nmol/l, p=0.03). In the control group we found adiponectin positively correlated with SHBG concentrations (r=0.53, p=0.01) and negatively correlated with BMI (r=-0.52, p=0.02) and WHR (r=-0.51, p=0.03). However, these relationships were not observed in patients with acromegaly. No significant associations were found between adiponectin and GH or IGF-I.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum concentration of adiponectin is significantly higher in patients with acromegaly when compared with the control group and is independent of BMI, WHR and SHBG. The results suggest that adiponectinemia does not directly affect development of insulin resistance in acromegaly.
Siemińska
Lucyna
L
Zakład Patofizjologii i Klinika Endokrynologii Katedry Patofizjologii i Endokrynologii Slaskiej Akademii Medycznej w Katowicach, kierownik Zakładu. lusiem@poczta.onet.pl
Lenart
Jarosław
J
Cichoń-Lenart
Agata
A
Niedziołka
Danuta
D
Marek
Bogdan
B
Kos-Kudła
Beata
B
Kajdaniuk
Dariusz
D
Nowak
Mariusz
M
D000172:Acromegaly / Q000097:blood*; D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000378:metabolism*
D052242:Adiponectin; D001786:Blood Glucose; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D019382:Human Growth Hormone