Adiponectin isoforms are not associated with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis but with undiagnosed diabetes in patients affected by stable CAD.
OBJECTIVE
Total adiponectin is emerging as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, but the role of adiponectin isoforms in coronary artery disease (CAD) is still unknown. We investigated the role of adiponectin isoforms with respect to the severity of coronary disease and to the presence of undiagnosed diabetes in patients with CAD.


RESULTS
We recruited 205 CAD patients, all living in the central area of Italy, with a history of a previous myocardial infarction but apparently not affected by type 2 diabetes (DM2). We compared the CAD patients to a control population (n=100) matched for age, sex, BMI and cardiovascular risk factors, but without overt diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In all patients we measured Total Adiponectin (Tot-Ad) and its isoforms, metabolic, pro- and anti-inflammatory markers and we performed an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). CAD patients underwent a coronary angiography and/or coronary multi-slice computed tomography. Based on the severity of CAD they were divided into mono-vessel versus multi-vessel patients. Tot-Ad levels and its isoforms were comparable in patients with mono-vessel versus multi-vessel CAD. After the OGTT, in CAD patients, the results showed that 19% of patients were affected by unknown DM2, 36.1% by unknown impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and only 43.9% were truly normoglycemic (NGT). Low levels of high molecular weight-adiponectin (HMW-Ad) were significantly associated with undiagnosed IGT or DM2 status (p<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
In our cohort of CAD patients, Tot-Ad and its isoforms do not correlate with severity of CAD, but with undiagnosed defects of glucose metabolism.
Rizza
Stefano
S
Center for Atherosclerosis, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
Clementi
Fabrizio
F
Porzio
Ottavia
O
Cardellini
Marina
M
Savo
Alessia
A
Serino
Matteo
M
Chiricolo
Gaetano
G
Romeo
Francesco
F
Lauro
Renato
R
Federici
Massimo
M
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000097:blood*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D052242:Adiponectin; D020033:Protein Isoforms