Low serum levels of total and high-molecular-weight adiponectin predict the development of metabolic syndrome in Japanese-Americans.

Background: Adiponectin is thought to play a significant role in the development of both insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Yet, there is very few evidence about the association plasma adiponectin and metabolic syndrome in the prospective study. Adiponectin exists as multimers in serum, and high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin is particularly considered to be the active form of the protein. Aim: We investigated whether serum HMW adiponectin as well as total adiponectin is associated with the development of metabolic syndrome in a longitudinal study. Subjects and methods: We enrolled 224 men and 312 women of Japanese-Americans without metabolic syndrome at baseline who were followed for an average of 3.2 yr. The association of plasma total and HMW adiponectin with a progression to metabolic syndrome was examined. Results: Subjects who developed metabolic syndrome had significantly lower plasma total and HMW adiponectin levels at baseline than those who did not develop metabolic syndrome. In a Cox proportional hazards model, lower total and HMW adiponectin levels were independent risk factors for the development of metabolic syndrome after adjusting for age, body mass index, classification of 75-g glucose tolerance test, and homeostasis model assessment (hazards ratio: total, 0.684, p=0.017, in men; 0.606, p=0.003, in women; HMW, 0.687, p=0.014, in men; 0.704, p=0.029, in women, respectively). Conclusions: Low circulating levels of total and HMW adiponectin may be a possible predictor for the development of metabolic syndrome.