Preliminary investigation of blood correlates of change in adiponectin with change in body fat

Abstract

Changes in adiponectin have been associated with change in percent total body fat (%TBF), however, the relationship between estrogen and adiponectin with fat change, has not been well defined. Since elevated adiponectin is associated with diabetes risk reduction, its interaction with estrogen may be important to postmenopausal (PM) women. Therefore, a preliminary analysis of the relationship between estrogen and adiponectin was performed in the greatest %TBF losers (−6.8%, N=9) and gainers (4.7%, N=11) of a large randomized controlled trial of resistance training in PM women, using or not using hormone therapy. Serum estrogen and plasma adiponectin were measured by radioimmunoassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. TBF was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. There were no significant differences between groups at baseline. Gainers of %TBF significantly decreased adiponectin in 1year, compared to losers (p < 0.03). Multiple linear regression demonstrated a significant independent negative association between change in adiponectin and change in %TBF (p<0.01) and, unexpectedly, an independent, positive association with change in estradiol (p<0.03) and estrone (p<0.06). Based on this small sample, we conclude that there may be a relationship between adiponectin and hormone levels in PM women warranting further investigation. NIH Grant R01 AR39559 and Mission Pharmacal