title: Association between plasma adiponectin and arteriolar vessel caliber among elderly hypertensive subjects.
abstract: Circulating adiponectin has been related to vascular diseases, but few studies examined the relationship between plasma adiponectin and microvascular abnormalities among hypertensive individuals. We tested the association between plasma adiponectin level and retinal vessel calibers in patients with hypertension.This study included 172 patients with confirmed hypertension, aged 18-80 years. Subjects with recent cardiovascular events, advanced heart failure and end-stage renal disease were excluded. Arteriolar and venular calibers were measured in retinographies using a microdensitometric image-processing method. Blood pressure was measured using a validated oscillometric device. We observed a statistically significant inverse association between plasma adiponectin and arteriolar caliber among participants aged 60 years or older after controlling for confounders (Adjusted β = -0.42; P = .001). In the final model, HbA1C and low-density lipoprotein also remained independently associated with arteriolar caliber. There was no association of adiponectin with venular caliber and retinal vessel calibers in participants <60 years old.Adiponectin is inversely associated with retinal arteriolar caliber in elderly hypertensive participants, suggesting that plasma adiponectin may be a marker of microvascular damage and of higher cardiovascular risk in this age stratum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Cardiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beltrami-Moreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Maestri
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Cardiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Division of Cardiology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Centro de Pesquisa Clínica, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávio D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Helena M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Pakter
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Cardiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Department of Social Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leila B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Cardiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Division of Cardiology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Centro de Pesquisa Clínica, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gus
authors.affiliation: Center for Gene Therapy, Hopital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ursula S
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Matte
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Cardiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Angela M V
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Informatics, Informatics Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Manuel M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Cardiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Department of Social Medicine, Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: sfuchs@hcpa.edu.br.
authors.forename: Sandra C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Fuchs
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001160:Arterioles / Q000473:pathology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D052242:Adiponectin; D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Arterioles; biomarker; hypertension; retina