Lipodystrophies are characterized by selective but variable loss of body fat and metabolic complications of
insulin resistance. We hypothesized that reduced synthesis and secretion of adipocyte-specific
proteins may be related to the metabolic complications of
lipodystrophy. Therefore, we compared fasting serum concentrations of
adiponectin and
leptin, in 18 patients with
congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL), 11 with acquired
generalized lipodystrophy (AGL), 46 with
familial partial lipodystrophy-Dunnigan variety (FPLD) and 18 with
acquired partial lipodystrophy (APL) and studied their relationship to metabolic parameters. Patients with CGL and AGL had markedly reduced serum
adiponectin levels compared to those with FPLD and APL (median [range]: 1.5 [0.4-7.5], 3.2 [0.6-7.7], 6.9 [1.9-23.2] and 7.9 [3.1-13.3] microg/mL, respectively, p < 0.0001); the same trend was noted for serum
leptin levels (0.63 [0.05-3.7], 2.18 [0.05-11.30], 2.86 [0.23-9.00] and 6.24 [1.21-10.4] ng/mL, respectively, p < 0.0001). Serum
adiponectin levels correlated negatively with fasting serum
triglycerides (r = -0.6, p < 0.001) and
insulin levels (r = -0.5, p < 0.0001) and positively with serum
high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (r = 0.5, p < 0.001). Serum
adiponectin levels were lower in patients with diabetes compared to non-diabetic subjects (3.0 vs. 7.1 microg/mL, p < 0.001). Our results indicate that serum
adiponectin and
leptin levels are extremely low in patients with
generalized lipodystrophies and may be related to severe
insulin resistance and its metabolic complications in
lipodystrophies.