Association between plasma adiponectin and arteriolar vessel caliber among elderly hypertensive subjects

Circulating adiponectin has been related to vascular diseases, but few studies examined the relationship between plasma adiponectin and microvascular abnormalities among hypertensive individuals. We tested the association between plasma adiponectin level and retinal vessel calibers in patients with hypertension.This study included 172 patients with confirmed hypertension, aged 18-80 years. Subjects with recent cardiovascular events, advanced heart failure and end-stage renal disease were excluded. Arteriolar and venular calibers were measured in retinographies using a microdensitometric image-processing method. Blood pressure was measured using a validated oscillometric device. We observed a statistically significant inverse association between plasma adiponectin and arteriolar caliber among participants aged 60 years or older after controlling for confounders (Adjusted β = -0.42; P = .001). In the final model, HbA1C and low-density lipoprotein also remained independently associated with arteriolar caliber. There was no association of adiponectin with venular caliber and retinal vessel calibers in participants <60 years old.Adiponectin is inversely associated with retinal arteriolar caliber in elderly hypertensive participants, suggesting that plasma adiponectin may be a marker of microvascular damage and of higher cardiovascular risk in this age stratum.