Published online before print May 25, 2006, doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000227260.24490.56
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Stroke. 2006;37:1642.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.
Letters to the Editor |
Hypoadiponectinemia as a Risk Factor for Atherosclerosis?
Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnosis, Medical University, Graz, Austria, Pediatric Rheumatology/Immunology, Medical University, Graz, Austria
To the Editor:
We want to comment on and complete the cited references of the article by Iglseder et al1 that demonstrated an independent negative association between adiponectin levels and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). With reference to this, our group also found an inverse and independent correlation between adiponectin and carotid IMT.2 Our data were derived from 240 subjects of the Styrian Juvenile Obesity Study (STYJOBS).2 However, we also have to note that not all studies in this field report about a significant negative association between adiponectin and carotid IMT.3 Thus, the confirmation of our results by Iglseder et al underlines the close association between low adiponectin and early atherosclerosis. Further, the notion of a protective function of adiponectin in coronary artery disease (CAD) is also supported by longitudinal studies that implicated an association between hypoadiponectinemia and CAD.4,5 Controversial to this, 2 recent studies failed to observe a significant prospective association between low adiponectin levels and the develpoment of CAD.6,7 Taken together, the diagnostic or even therapeutic potential of adiponectin in cardiovascular disease remains to be clarified.8
References
1. Iglseder B, Mackevics V, Stadlmayer A, Tasch G, Ladurner G, Paulweber B. Plasma adiponectin levels and sonographic phenotypes of subclinical artery atherosclerosis. Stroke. 2005; 36: 2577–2582.
2. Pilz S, Horejsi R, Möller R, Almer G, Scharnagl H, Stojakovic T, Dimitrova R, Weihrauch G, Borkenstein M, Maerz W, Schauenstein K, Mangge H. Early atherosclerosis in obese juveniles is associated with low serum levels of adiponectin. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005; 90: 4792–4796.
3. Matsuda M, Kawasaki F, Yamada K, Kanda Y, Saito M, Eto M, Matsuki M, Kaku K. Impact of adiposity and plasma adipocytokines on diabetic angiopathies in Japanese type 2 diabetic subjects. Diabet Med. 2004; 21: 881–888.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
4. Costacou T, Zgibor JC, Evans RW, Otvos J, Lopes-Virella MF, Tracy RP, Orchard TJ. The prospective association between adiponectin and coronary artery disease among individuals with type 1 diabetes. The Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study. Diabetologia. 2004; 48: 41–48.[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
5. Schulze MB, Shai I, Rimm EB, Li T, Rifai N, Hu FB. Adiponectin and future coronary heart disease events among men with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes. 2005; 54: 534–539.
6. Lindsay RS, Resnick HE, Zhu J, Tun ML, Howard BV, Zhang Y, Yeh J, Best LG. Adiponectin and coronary heart disease: The Strong Heart Study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005; 25: 15–16.
7. Lawlor DA, Smith GD, Ebrahim S, Thompson C, Sattar N. Plasma adiponectin levels are associated with insulin resistance but do not predict future risk of coronary heart disease in women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005; [epub ahead of print].
8. Matsuzawa Y. Adiponectin: Identification, physiology and clinical relevance in metabolic and vascular disease. Atherosclerosis suppl. 2005; 6: 7–14.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
Related Article:
Stroke 2006 37: 1643.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||