Serum adiponectin is a predictor of coronary heart disease: a population-based 10-year follow-up study in elderly men.
BACKGROUND
Cross-sectional and nested case-control studies indicate a relationship between adiponectin, obesity, and coronary heart disease (CHD).


OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to investigate whether adiponectin could predict CHD in a population-based cohort of elderly men.


METHODS
From 1991-1995 a baseline investigation was carried out in 832 healthy men aged 70 yr in the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (ULSAM study). They were followed up to 10.4 yr using Swedish national registry data. The baseline investigation included anthropometry, blood pressure, smoking, serum lipids, a euglycemic insulin clamp, and fasting serum adiponectin.


METHODS
Main outcome measures were defined as death or first-time hospitalization for CHD (n = 116), recorded in the Cause of Death Registry or in the Hospital-Discharge Registry of the National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden. Associations were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazards regression, presented as hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for 1 sd increase in the predictor variable.


RESULTS
In a multivariable analysis including total cholesterol (HR, 1.24; CI, 1.02-1.50), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HR, 0.72; CI, 0.58-0.89), smoking (HR, 1.39; CI, 0.91-2.14), and systolic blood pressure (HR, 1.26; CI, 1.05-1.52), serum adiponectin was associated with lower risk for CHD (HR, 0.81; CI, 0.66-0.99). The association was independent of BMI and remained significant after adjustment for insulin sensitivity index.


CONCLUSIONS
In this population-based cohort of healthy men, elevated serum levels of adiponectin were associated with a lower risk for CHD. Importantly, the association between adiponectin and CHD was independent of other well-known risk factors.
Frystyk
Jan
J
Medical Research Laboratories, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade 44, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. jan@frystyk.dk
Berne
Christian
C
Berglund
Lars
L
Jensevik
Karin
K
Flyvbjerg
Allan
A
Zethelius
Björn
B
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
C499918:ADIPOQ protein, human; D052242:Adiponectin