title: Ethnic differences in serum adipokine and C-reactive protein levels: the multiethnic cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ethnic disparities in metabolic disease risk may be the result of differences in circulating adipokines and inflammatory markers related to ethnic variations in obesity and body fat distribution.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional design, we compared serum levels of leptin, adiponectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in control subjects (321 men and 930 women) from two nested case-control studies conducted within the Multiethnic Cohort Study consisting of whites, Japanese Americans (JA), Latinos, African Americans (AA) and Native Hawaiians (NH). General linear models were applied to evaluate ethnic differences in log-transformed serum biomarker levels before and after adjusting for body mass index (BMI) at cohort entry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In comparison to whites, significant ethnic differences were observed for all biomarkers except TNF-α. JA men and women had significantly lower leptin and CRP levels than whites, and JA women also had lower adiponectin levels. Leptin was significantly higher in AA women (P < 0.01), adiponectin was significantly lower in AA men and women (P = 0.02 and P < 0.001), and CRP and IL-6 were significantly higher in AA men and women. Lower adiponectin (P < 0.0001) and CRP (P = 0.03) levels were the only biomarkers in NH women that differed from whites; no statistically significant differences were seen for NH men and for Latino men and women. When adjusted for BMI at cohort entry, the differences between the lowest and the highest values across ethnic groups decreased for all biomarkers except adiponectin in men indicating that ethnic differences were partially due to weight status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate the ethnic variations in circulating adipokine and CRP levels before and after adjustment for BMI. Given the limitation of BMI as a general measure of obesity, further investigation with visceral and subcutaneous adiposity measures are warranted to elucidate ethnicity-related differences in adiposity in relation to disparities in obesity-related disease risk.
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Morimoto
authors: Department of Population Health Research, Alberta Health Services-Cancer Care, Calgary, Canada.
authors: S M
authors: SM
authors: Conroy
authors: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
authors: N J
authors: NJ
authors: Ollberding
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Kim
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: U
authors: U
authors: Lim
authors: Public Health Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: R V
authors: RV
authors: Cooney
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: A A
authors: AA
authors: Franke
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: L R
authors: LR
authors: Wilkens
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: B Y
authors: BY
authors: Hernandez
authors: Cancer Prevention and Control, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute and Community and Population Health Research Institute, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors: M T
authors: MT
authors: Goodman
authors: Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors: B E
authors: BE
authors: Henderson
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: L N
authors: LN
authors: Kolonel
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Le Marchand
authors: Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Maskarinec
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines / Q000097:blood*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006254:Hawaii / Q000208:ethnology; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D020738:Leptin; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D002097:C-Reactive Protein