Low adiponectin state is associated with metabolic abnormalities in obese children, particularly depending on apolipoprotein E phenotype.
BACKGROUND
Adiponectin links obesity with insulin resistance, which causes various metabolic abnormalities including dyslipidaemia. Apolipoprotein E (apoE) phenotypes also affect lipoprotein profiles. We aimed to determine whether low adiponectin concentrations are associated with insulin resistance and downstream metabolic abnormalities in obese children.


METHODS
We measured fasting concentrations of lipids, apoE, glucose, insulin and adiponectin, as well as anthropometric parameters, in 191 obese children aged 6-15 years. ApoE phenotypes were determined by isoelectric focusing. Boys (n = 79) and girls (n = 39) with apoE3/3 were classified into tertiles according to their adiponectin concentrations. Metabolic parameters, were compared among these three groups in boys and girls separately.


RESULTS
The low adiponectin groups had higher median homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) than the middle and high adiponectin groups in both boys [5.3 (low) versus 3.1 (middle; P < 0.05) and 3.5 (high; P < 0.05)] and girls [5.0 (low) versus 4.4 (middle) and 3.0 (high; P < 0.05)]. However, only boys who were in the low adiponectin group exhibited significantly higher concentrations of blood pressure, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, and remnant-like particle-cholesterol, and lower concentrations of HDL-cholesterol compared with the middle or high adiponectin groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Low adiponectin concentration is associated with insulin resistance in obese children. Furthermore, decreased adiponectin with E3/3 exhibited more prominent downstream metabolic abnormalities in obese boys than in obese girls.
Wardaningsih
Elfi
E
Division of Clinical Preventive Medicine, Department of Community Preventive Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Asahimachi 1-757, Chuo-ku, Niigata, Japan.
Miida
Takashi
T
Seino
Utako
U
Fueki
Yuriko
Y
Ito
Masayuki
M
Nagasaki
Keisuke
K
Kikuchi
Toru
T
Uchiyama
Makoto
M
Hirayama
Satoshi
S
Hanyu
Osamu
O
Miyake
Kazunori
K
Okada
Masahiko
M