Association between plasma adiponectin and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in postmenopausal women

We investigated the association of plasma adiponectin and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in postmenopausal women.

This was a cross-sectional study of 563 postmenopausal women with and 1029 without low HDL-C. Lipid profile, glucose, adiponectin, IL-1beta, IL-6, and TNF-alpha concentrations were measured.

Plasma adiponectin levels increased with age in elderly women. Plasma adiponectin levels were lower in subjects with low HDL-C (<50mg/dl), when compared with normal HDL-C subjects. In multiple stepwise linear regression analysis, adiponectin was a significant independent predictor of HDL-C concentration with body mass index, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. Values in the third and fourth quartile of adiponectin were associated with decreased odds ratio for low HDL-C (0.62; 95% CI, 0.44-0.87, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.27-0.58, respectively) when compared with values in the lowest quartile after multivariable adjustment.

Adiponectin was significantly associated with HDL-C concentration in postmenopausal women. These findings suggest that high adiponectin levels may have a protective effect on atherosclerosis with increasing HDL-C in postmenopausal women.