Relationship of plasma adiponectin with sex hormone and insulin-like growth factor levels.
OBJECTIVE
Recent studies have suggested that a relationship between adiponectin and sex hormone, prolactin, and insulin-like growth factor levels could be important for breast cancer risk and insulin sensitivity. Therefore, we assessed the relationship of adiponectin with plasma concentrations of estrone; estradiol; estrone sulfate; testosterone; androstenedione; dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA); dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS); sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG); prolactin; insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1); its binding protein, IGF binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3); c-peptide; and IGF binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1) among 360 postmenopausal women not taking postmenopausal hormones from the Nurses' Health Study.


METHODS
Multivariate models were adjusted for physical activity, alcohol consumption, age at blood draw, age at first birth/parity, fasting status, and time of day of blood draw; a separate model was additionally adjusted for BMI at blood draw.


RESULTS
Estrogens were inversely associated with adiponectin levels; however, except for free estradiol, these associations were substantially attenuated after adjustment for BMI. Free estradiol levels were 27% lower among women in the top vs. bottom quartile of adiponectin levels. No consistent associations were observed for the androgens, prolactin, IGF-1, and IGFBP-3. However, SHBG, c-peptide, and IGFBP-1 were strongly and independently associated with adiponectin levels (r = 0.29, -0.30, 0.24, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
With the exceptions of SHBG, c-peptide, and IGFBP-1, the studied analytes were modestly associated with adiponectin and the associations were, in large part, mediated by body fat.
Tworoger
Shelley S
SS
Channing Laboratory, 181 Longwood Ave., 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA. nhsst@channing.harvard.edu
Mantzoros
Christos
C
Hankinson
Susan E
SE
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D000368:Aged; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000378:metabolism; D002096:C-Peptide / Q000378:metabolism*; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism; D004970:Estrone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D018970:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D011388:Prolactin / Q000378:metabolism; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013002:Somatomedins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism
D052242:Adiponectin; D002096:C-Peptide; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D018970:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 1; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D013002:Somatomedins; D004970:Estrone; D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D011388:Prolactin; C017296:estrone sulfate