Adiponectin Linked to Carotid Thickness in Child
A low adiponectin level is a better predictor of carotid intima-media thickness in obese children than are conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors, according to a report published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Increased intima-media thickness (IMT) is considered to be an early marker of atherosclerosis in adults. Adiponectin is one of a class of bioactive substances called adipokines produced by adipose tissue. High levels of adiponectin have antidiabetic properties, but low levels have been shown to predict myocardial infarction in adults. Paradoxically, the more adipose tissue a person has, the less adiponectin the adipose tissue produces.
In this study, Dr. Véronique Beauloye and her colleagues at Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, studied 104 obese children and adolescents and compared them with 93 children of normal weight. They used ultrasound to measure IMT in the carotid artery of each child, and the children underwent oral glucose tolerance tests (J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2007;92:3025–32).
A univariate analysis found a significant inverse correlation between IMT and adiponectin levels, and significant positive correlations between IMT and relative body mass index, systolic hypertension, fasting insulin levels, the homeostatic model assessment R-index, and concentrations of resistin (a molecule called such for “resistance to insulin” that may be the hormone connecting obesity and diabetes). But after adjusting their statistical model for sex, Tanner stage, and relative BMI, the investigators found that only adiponectin concentration remained as an independent predictor of IMT.
The children in the study ranged from 8 to 18 years of age, with an average age of 13. The children in the obese group had BMI z scores averaging 2.8, while the children in the control group averaged -0.2. The obese children differed significantly from the controls in many cardiovascular risk factors, including LDL and HDL cholesterol, glucose tolerance, and measures of subclinical inflammation.
The authors wrote that their study suggests that adiponectin may play an early role in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. While earlier studies showed a relationship between adiponectin levels and IMT in severely obese children, this is apparently the first study to show a similar association in less obese children.
