Adipocyte
cytokines regulate
glucose metabolism and
insulin resistance and
adiponectin is thought to have a protective effect against
atherosclerosis. Studies have shown that
adiponectin expression is decreased in obese subjects and those with
metabolic syndrome or
diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between circulating adipocyte
cytokine concentrations and angiographic
coronary artery disease (CAD) progression in patients with
chest pain. Patients with
stable angina pectoris who underwent repeat coronary angiograms and had serum samples at the time of first catheterization between March 1999 and January 2004 were enrolled. A modified Gensini scoring system was used to define angiographic coronary artery progression between the index and follow-up angiograms. Those who had significant angiographic progression of coronary lesions were classified into the progression group (N=55). Those who did not have CAD progression were classified into the non-progression group (N=102). Univariate analysis showed that CAD progression was associated with male gender (93% vs. 78%, p=0.038), higher baseline total
cholesterol (187+/-43 vs. 173+/-39 mg/dl, p=0.037) and higher baseline fasting
blood glucose (128+/-57 vs. 110+/-40 mg/dl, p=0.037). Patients in the progression group had a significantly lower serum
adiponectin level (14.3+/-7.9 vs. 18.9+/-13.2 mug/ml, p=0.007) than, but
resistin (28.9+/-13.4 vs. 34.4+/-26.0 ng/ml, p=0.142) and
leptin (7.4+/-4.6 vs. 7.7+/-6.5 ng/ml, p=0.675) levels similar to, those in the non-progression group. In a multivariate binary logistic regression model, male gender (odds ratio 4.283, p=0.015), higher serum
cholesterol (odds ratio 1.010, p=0.032) and lower serum
adiponectin (odds ratio 0.959, p=0.030) were all significant independent predictors of CAD progression. In conclusion, we found that a decreased circulating level of
adiponectin is associated with angiographic CAD progression in patients with
angina pectoris.