Abstract
We recently reported that increased serum adiponectin was associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk in subjects with obesity. We hereby aim to determine if other adipokines associate with RA risk and if the association between adiponectin and RA is independent of other adipokines. Two nested-case control studies were performed in two different cohorts: 82 participants of the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study who developed RA during follow-up matched with 410 controls, and 88 matched pairs from the Medical Biobank of Northern Sweden. Baseline levels of circulating adipokines were measured using ELISA. In a multivariable analysis in the SOS cohort, higher adiponectin was associated with an increased risk of RA independently of other adipokines (OR for RA risk: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01–1.12, p = 0.02). No association between leptin, resistin, and visfatin levels and the risk of RA was detected. In the cohort from the Medical Biobank of Northern Sweden, higher adiponectin was associated with an increased risk of RA only in participants with overweight/obesity (OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.01−1.36, p = 0.03), independently of other adipokines. Our results show that in individuals with overweight/obesity, higher circulating levels of adiponectin, but not leptin, resistin, or visfatin, were associated with an increased RA risk.
Highlights
Adipose tissue is the largest endocrine organ in the human body, which produces large amounts of cell-signaling proteins, called adipokines [1]
By performing two nested case-control studies in cohorts where blood samples and clinical information were available before the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we have observed no association between circulating levels of leptin, resistin, and visfatin and the future risk of RA
This study confirms what we have shown in a recent publication where increased serum adiponectin levels were associated with the future incidence of RA in participants of the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS), a longitudinal study including about 4000 subjects with obesity [25]
Summary
Adipose tissue is the largest endocrine organ in the human body, which produces large amounts of cell-signaling proteins, called adipokines [1]. Adipokines, such as adiponectin, leptin, resistin, and visfatin, are important regulators of metabolism [2]. Several adipokines have been found elevated in blood from patients with RA, a systemic inflammatory disease affecting mainly the joints [10]. As opposed to other adipokines, circulating adiponectin levels are low in patients with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome [12,13]
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