Serum adiponectin in relation to body mass index and other correlates in black and white women.
OBJECTIVE
Adiponectin is a promising biomarker linking obesity and disease risk; however, limited data are available regarding adiponectin in black women among whom obesity is highly prevalent.


METHODS
A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to assess racial differences and correlates of serum adiponectin measured in 996 black and 996 white women enrolled in the Southern Community Cohort Study through Community Health Centers in 12 southeastern states from 2002 to 2006.


RESULTS
Black subjects had significantly lower adiponectin levels than white subjects (median 10.9 vs 14.9 μg/mL, Wilcoxon p < .0001). Among black subjects, adiponectin was lower among overweight and obese women compared with healthy weight women but showed no clear decreasing trend with increasing severity of obesity; adjusted geometric means (95% confidence interval) were 15.0 [13.8-16.4], 11.5 [10.6-12.5], 9.7 [9.0-10.6], 11.4 [10.3-12.6], and 10.9 [9.5-12.6] μg/mL for body mass index [BMI] categories of 18.5-24.9, 25-29.9, 30-34.9, 35-39.9, and 40-45, p for trend <.0001). In contrast, among whites there was a monotonic reduction in adiponectin over increasing BMI (adjusted geometric means = 19.9 [18.3-21.7], 15.1 [13.9-16.4], 14.3 [13.2-15.5], 12.5 [11.2-13.9], and 11.0 [9.7-12.5] μg/mL, p for trend <.0001). BMI, age, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and hypertension were important correlates of adiponectin in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Among women, racial differences exist in both the magnitude and form of the adiponectin-BMI association.
Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. sarah@ieixmail.com
Sarah S
SS
Cohen
Marilie D
MD
Gammon
Lisa B
LB
Signorello
Kari E
KE
North
Ethan M
EM
Lange
Jay H
JH
Fowke
Margaret K
MK
Hargreaves
Qiuyin
Q
Cai
Wei
W
Zheng
William J
WJ
Blot
Charles E
CE
Matthews
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood; D015144:Southeastern United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D052242:Adiponectin