Abstract P024: Hidden Risks: Relationship Among Visceral Adipose Tissue, Interleukin-18, and Adiponectin in the Development of Type 2 Diabetes in Filipino Americans

Abstract

Background and Aims: Filipino Americans (FAs) are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes however little research exists as to why this occurs. There is evidence that pro-inflammatory Interleukin-18 (IL-18) and anti-inflammatory (adiponectin) markers associated with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) may explain this risk but this postulate has not yet been examined during the course of diabetes progression in FAs. Therefore, in FAs without diabetes, with pre-diabetes and with type 2 diabetes, the aims of this study were to: 1) Quantify VAT, IL-18, and adiponectin and describe the values in relation to known reference ranges (RR) for each group 2) Determine the relationships of VAT, IL-18, and adiponectin within each group and 3) Determine if VAT, IL-18, and adiponectin were different among groups. Methods: FAs were recruited from healthcare and community centers in Solano County, California. VAT was measured using the InBody 570 © body impedance analyzer. Blood was obtained for HgA1c and plasma was used to quantify IL-18 and adiponectin with ELISA. Correlation coefficients were conducted to determine the associations among VAT, IL-18 and adiponectin in the three groups. One-way ANOVAs were conducted for each biomarker to determine if there were statistically significant differences among groups. Results: Seventy-five participants enrolled (N=25 per group), 68% females with mean age=42 years. VAT values above the RR included 57% of women, but only 27% of men. Participants with an IL-18 above the RR used for this study was greater in the pre- diabetes (68%) and diabetes groups (64%) vs. the non-diabetes group (40%). Interestingly, 90- 100% of the adiponectin values in both men and women were well above the RR. There were no correlations among the biomarkers within any group. VAT and IL-18 were not significantly different among groups. Adiponectin was significantly different among groups (F 2 ,72 =3.789, p=0.03), with lower values in the diabetes group vs. the non-diabetes group (Post-hoc Tukey HSD test, p=0.02). Conclusions: This is the first time VAT, IL-18 and adiponectin have been examined in FAs without diabetes, with pre-diabetes and with diabetes. While a young, mostly female sample may have confounded the biomarker findings, the results point toward the potential usefulness of inflammation-related biomarkers to identify individuals in the FA population that may be at higher risk for type 2 diabetes and understand the mechanisms of diabetes development and progression in FAs.