Adiponectin mRNA in adipose tissue and its association with metabolic risk factors in postmenopausal obese women

OBJECTIVE: The present study evaluates adiponectin mRNA in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and also evaluates its association with metabolic risk factors in postmenopausal obese women. DESIGN: A case control study was carried out on postmenopausal women (n = 68), in which 34 were obese and 34 were non-obese. Blood sample, visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues were obtained. Adiponectin mRNA levels were measured by Real Time-RT PCR. RESULTS: The mean (+/- SEM) serum adiponectin (28.39 +/- 2.52 vs. 20.56 +/- 1.13), VAT (0.362 +/- 0.098 vs. 0.048 +/- 0.005) and SAT (0.222 +/- 0.035 vs. 0.042 +/- 0.007) adiponectin mRNA levels were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in obese than non-obese. However, the mean VAT and SAT adiponectin mRNA levels were similar (p > 0.05) between the groups. Further, the mean glucose and TG levels were significantly (p < 0.01 or p < 0.001) higher, while HDL was lower (p < 0.01) in obese than non-obese. Furthermore, VAT adiponectin mRNA also showed significant (p < 0.05) and inverse association with TG, while direct association with HDL and both the associations were independent of BMI and WC (waist circumference). CONCLUSION: The BMI and WC independent and significant association of VAT adiponectin mRNA with TG and HDL suggest its potential modulatory role in lipid metabolism in postmenopausal obese women.