Adiponectin is independently associated with glycosylated haemoglobin

Background: In humans, adiponectin has been demonstrated to circulate in inverse proportion to the degree of insulin resistance. Objective: To investigate the association between adiponectin and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) in a population-based study. Design and methods: Two hundred and ninety-seven individuals aged 30-75 years were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. They included patients with type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus and stable, good metabolic control (n = 32) and individuals with glucose intolerance (n = 54). Adiponectin was measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation 3.3 and 7.4% respectively). Results: Adiponectin correlated with age, (r = 0.161; P = 0.006), body mass index (r = -0.197; P = 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (r = -0.181; P = 0.005), fasting glucose and HbA(1c) (r = -0.251 and r = -0.22 respectively; P < 0.0001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.442; P < 0.001) and serum triglycerides (r = -362; P < 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, sex, age, fasting and post-load glucose, and adiponectin independently contributed to 40% of the variance in HbA(1c). Among individuals with normal glucose tolerance, fasting glucose (P = 0.0033), post-load glucose (P = 0.0015), age (P = 0.001) and adiponectin (P = 0.0083) independently contributed to 21% of the variance in HbA(1c). Conclusion: Adiponectin is significantly associated with altered glucose metabolism and independently contributes to the variance of HbA(1c) in a population-based manner.