Gender determines the actions of adiponectin multimers on fetal growth and adiposity

We sought to analyze the role of cord blood adiponectin and its multimeric forms in neonatal adiposity and fetal growth velocity (FGV) during the third trimester of pregnancy according to fetal gender.

This was a prospective analytical observational study conducted at the Diabetes and Pregnancy Unit, University Hospital Joan XXIII, Tarragona, Spain. In all, 96 healthy pregnant women were included in the early third trimester and were followed up until delivery. Maternal blood was obtained upon recruitment, and cord blood was obtained at delivery. Serial fetal ultrasounds were performed during the third trimester to assess FGV. Skinfolds were measured after birth to assess neonatal adiposity. Adiponectin multimers were determined in maternal and cord blood.

In female neonates, adiposity and FGV in the late third trimester were correlated positively with cord blood insulin (r = 0.343, P = .015 and r = 0.430, P = .002, respectively) and maternal pregravid body mass index (r = 597, P < .001 and r = 0.428, P = .002, respectively), and negatively with maternal high-molecular-weight (HMW)/total adiponectin ratio (r = -0.269, P = .035 and r = -0.387, P = .005, respectively), but in the stepwise multiple regression model, the main determinants were cord blood insulin, pregravid body mass index, and cord blood HMW adiponectin. Otherwise, in male neonates, adiposity and fetal growth were correlated with cord blood low-molecular-weight adiponectin (r = 0.486, P = .003 and r = 0.394, P = .020, respectively), and it was this multimeric form that emerged as an independent determinant in the stepwise regression model.

Adiponectin seems to determine fetal growth and adipose tissue accretion, and low molecular weight is more specifically implicated in males, whereas the HMW isoform may be more important in females.