Plasma adiponectin concentration and its association with metabolic syndrome in patients with heart failure

Plasma adiponectin concentrations are inversely related with metabolic syndrome (MetS), and MetS is associated with increased risk for heart failure (HF). However, the relationship between adiponectin and MetS in HF remains undetermined. Therefore, we tested whether MetS was associated with the degree of plasma adiponectin concentrations in HF patients.

One hundred twenty eight ambulatory HF patients with left ventricular ejection fraction of <50% (80 males, 61.8 ± 11.9 years old) were enrolled for this cross-sectional study. Echocardiographic measurements were performed, and plasma concentrations of adiponectin, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins (apoB, apoA1) and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were measured.

Adiponectin concentrations in HF patients with MetS (n=43) were significantly lower than those without MetS (n=85) (9.7 ± 7.0 vs. 15.8 ± 10.9 μg/mL, p=0.001). Higher concentrations of apoB (p=0.017), apoB/A1 ratio (p<0.001), blood urea nitrogen (p=0.034), creatinine (p=0.003), and fasting insulin (p=0.004) were observed in HF patients with MetS compared with those without MetS. In HF patients with MetS, adiponectin concentrations were negatively correlated with hsCRP (r=-0.388, p=0.015) and positively correlated with the ratio of early mitral inflow velocity to early diastolic mitral annular velocity, E/E' (r=0.399, p=0.015). There was a significant trend towards decreased adiponectin concentrations with an increasing number of components of MetS (p for trend=0.012).

Our study demonstrated that adiponectin concentrations decreased in HF patients with MetS, and that relationship between adiponectin, inflammation and abnormal diastolic function, possibly leading to the progression of HF.