Plasma Adiponectin does not Correlate with Insulin Resistance and Cardiometabolic Variables in Non-Diabetic Asian Indian Teenagers

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine age and sex specific concentrations of adiponectin in Asian Indian teenagers and adults, and to assess whether its blood levels correlated with insulin resistance and other cardiometabolic parameters.

Research Design and Methods: We studied 196 teenagers (94 boys, 102 girls) of 12-18 years, selected from a cohort of 2640, from a cross sectional school-based survey in Chennai, India. For comparison, adiponectin and plasma insulin were measured in 84 healthy adults. Correlation of adiponectin with plasma levels of insulin, proinsulin (PI), insulin resistance (IR), anthropometry and family history of diabetes were studied.

Results: Adiponectin showed a gender dimorphism, with girls having higher values (in μg/ml) (10.3±5.0) than the boys (8.4±3.5) (P <0.0001) and it showed a positive correlation with HDL-cholesterol in boys only and not with other lipid parameters, IR, PI, anthropometry and family history of diabetes. In the adults adiponectin correlated with fasting glucose and inversely with triglycerides.

Conclusions: In Asian Indian adults and teenagers adiponectin did not correlate directly with measures of insulin sensitivity, overweight and other cardiometabolic variables. This was at variance with several reports in other populations showing an inverse association of adiponectin with IR, PI and BMI suggesting ethnic differences in the relationship of adiponectin with insulin sensitivity. The role of adiponectin in relation to action of insulin needs more detailed studies in Asian Indians.