Serum adiponectin and leptin levels in patients with lipodystrophies

Lipodystrophies are characterized by selective but variable loss of body fat and metabolic complications of insulin resistance. We hypothesized that reduced synthesis and secretion of adipocyte-specific proteins may be related to the metabolic complications of lipodystrophy. Therefore, we compared fasting serum concentrations of adiponectin and leptin, in 18 patients with congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL), 11 with acquired generalized lipodystrophy (AGL), 46 with familial partial lipodystrophy-Dunnigan variety (FPLD) and 18 with acquired partial lipodystrophy (APL) and studied their relationship to metabolic parameters. Patients with CGL and AGL had markedly reduced serum adiponectin levels compared to those with FPLD and APL (median [range]: 1.5 [0.4-7.5], 3.2 [0.6-7.7], 6.9 [1.9-23.2] and 7.9 [3.1-13.3] microg/mL, respectively, p < 0.0001); the same trend was noted for serum leptin levels (0.63 [0.05-3.7], 2.18 [0.05-11.30], 2.86 [0.23-9.00] and 6.24 [1.21-10.4] ng/mL, respectively, p < 0.0001). Serum adiponectin levels correlated negatively with fasting serum triglycerides (r = -0.6, p < 0.001) and insulin levels (r = -0.5, p < 0.0001) and positively with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (r = 0.5, p < 0.001). Serum adiponectin levels were lower in patients with diabetes compared to non-diabetic subjects (3.0 vs. 7.1 microg/mL, p < 0.001). Our results indicate that serum adiponectin and leptin levels are extremely low in patients with generalized lipodystrophies and may be related to severe insulin resistance and its metabolic complications in lipodystrophies.