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Adiponectin is associated with risk of the metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in women

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine insulin resistance, markers of the metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and serum adiponectin concentrations in pre-menopausal Hispanic and non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. This cross-sectional study examined 119 pre-menopausal women (76 Hispanic, 45 NHW) for markers of the metabolic syndrome (ATP III criteria), level of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), CVD risk factors, and serum total adiponectin concentrations. Relationships between variables were assessed using Student’s t-tests, Pearson’s and Spearman’s Rho correlations, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Hispanic women had significantly lower adiponectin concentrations than NHW women, even after controlling for body fat (%) (P < 0.01). Number of markers of the metabolic syndrome was inversely related to total adiponectin concentration for all women combined and for NHW women (P ≤ 0.04), but not for Hispanic women. Insulin resistance was inversely related to adiponectin for all women and for NHW women (P < 0.01), but not significantly associated in Hispanic women. Adiponectin concentration was not significantly associated with number of CVD risk factors for these women. While adiponectin was associated with markers of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance for all women of this study and despite lower adiponectin concentrations for Hispanic women than NHW women, the role of adiponectin to these conditions among Hispanics remains unclear. There was no significant association between adiponectin and CVD risk for these women. Future research should focus on understanding mechanisms for up-regulating adiponectin secretion and if ethnicity affects adiponectin gene expression and secretion given the beneficial effects derived from elevated adiponectin levels.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHHD) (P 20 MD000548) through the Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center of the University of Texas at El Paso; and in part supported by Grant Number 5G12RR008124 (to the Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC)/University of Texas at El Paso) from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the NIH. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NCMHHD, NCRR, or NIH. The authors would like to thank Dr. Kristin Gosselink for laboratory support and Bernadette Franco, Charlie Potter, Carlos Sifuentes, and Clare Spence-Highfield for their help with data collection for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology, The University of Texas at El Paso, 1101 N. Campbell St, El Paso, TX, 79902, USA

    George A. King & Sarah E. Deemer

  2. Department of Exercise, Sport, and Leisure Studies, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Dixie L. Thompson

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  1. George A. King
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  2. Sarah E. Deemer
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Correspondence to George A. King.

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King, G.A., Deemer, S.E. & Thompson, D.L. Adiponectin is associated with risk of the metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in women. Acta Diabetol 49 (Suppl 1), 41–49 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-010-0192-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-010-0192-6

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