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High adiponectin levels linked to favorable lipid profile in adolescents
8 August 2008
MedWire News: Adiponectin levels in adolescents are inversely associated with obesity-related factors and positively linked to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and higher levels lead to improvements in triglyceride levels over time, report investigators.
"Adiponectin is an adipose-tissue-specific protein, which has been shown to enhance insulin action and to exert anti-atherogenic effects," say Chantal Simon and colleagues from the University of Strasbourg in France.
They add: "The favorable relationship of adiponectin with the metabolic profile demonstrated in adults has been less studied in youths."
To combat this, they recruited 647 adolescents aged 11.6 years on average who were enrolled in the Intervention Centred on Adolescents' Physical activity and Sedentary behaviour (ICAPS) study. The participants were assigned to different levels of physical activity.
Simon and team aimed to assess cross-sectional (n=647) and 2-year longitudinal (n=288) associations between adiponectin concentrations and adiposity, lipids, and measures of insulin resistance and inflammation in these individuals.
As reported in the journal Diabetes and Metabolism, in the cross-sectional analysis adiponectin was inversely associated with waist size, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, insulin, and soluble tumor-necrosis factor a receptor (measure of low grade inflammation).
Conversely, adiponectin levels were positively associated with HDL cholesterol. These relationships were still valid after adjustment for various factors including age, gender, sexual maturity, sports participation, and adiposity.
In the longitudinal study, the researchers observed that a higher level of adiponectin at baseline was linked to more favorable changes in triglycerides over 2 years, despite adjustment for baseline triglyceride level, and insulin and body fat changes over this period.
Simon et al suggest their results indicate "a favorable relationship between adiponectin and the metabolic profile as well as a subsequent lowering of triglyceride levels in young adolescents."
They add: "The mechanisms underlying these associations, however, remain to be clarified."
