Further inflammatory information on metabolic syndrome by adiponectin evaluation

Despite a close association of adiponectin with metabolic syndrome (MetS), its usefulness as an additional MetS factor has not been well investigated.

We studied 2327 apparently healthy Japanese male office workers aged 35 to 66 years old and investigated cross-sectionally whether categorization by serum adiponectin distinguished participants' levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) beyond the conventional MetS.

In a linear regression analysis, adiponectin was associated with CRP independently of all MetS factors (beta=-0.192, P<0.001). Furthermore, a graded decrease in CRP level was observed with elevation of adiponectin in every stratum characterized by the presence or absence of each MetS component (trend P<0.05 in all strata except those of decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or hyperglycemia). Similarly, geometric means of CRP levels (mg/l) decreased as adiponectin increased from the lowest to the highest tertile in all strata classified by the number of MetS components, though a P value did not reach statistical significance in those with 3 MetS components (the stratum of 0 MetS component: 0.41 [95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.49], 0.32 [0.28-0.37] and 0.26 [0.23-0.30], trend P<0.001; 1 component: 0.45 [0.39-0.52], 0.38 [0.34-0.43], and 0.32 [0.28-0.36], trend P<0.001; 2 components: 0.58 [0.50-0.67], 0.51 [0.44-0.60], and 0.46 [0.38-0.55], trend P=0.043; 3 components: 0.80 [0.66-0.96], 0.69 [0.55-0.87], and 0.58 [0.39-0.85], trend P=0.139).

Adiponectin evaluation provides additional inflammatory information on conventional MetS, supporting the potential of hypoadiponectinemia as an additional MetS component for identifying high-risk individuals for cardiovascular disease.