Weight gain and changes in plasma adiponectin and leptin concentrations after 12-month insulin intensive therapy for Chinese male patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes

Abstract

To examine the effects of intensive insulin therapy (IIT) in Chinese male patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes in 12 months on plasma adiponectin and leptin levels and to assess whether changes in plasma adiponectin and leptin could be associated with subsequent weight gain or not. Overall 84 patients were taken IIT. Total, and high-, and low-molecular-weight (HMW, LMW) adiponectin and leptin concentrations were measured at the time of study inclusion, days 7, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after IIT, respectively. Patients' body weight was recorded every time when adiponectin and leptin were measured. With improvement of diabetes control, plasma total and HMW adiponectin and leptin concentrations increased from inclusion to 3 months significantly and progressively, but remained steady after 6 months. Weight increased relatively modestly with a mean gain of 2kg for 12 months. Moreover, higher increments of total and HMW adiponectin from inclusion to 12 months were associated with significantly less subsequent weight gain after adjustment for confounding factors: the patients in the lowest tertile of total adiponectin increased by 2.47kg compared to patients in the highest tertile who increased by 0.56kg (P-value=0.006). Whereas, the higher increments of leptin levels under the same condition were linked with more subsequent weight gain significantly (P-value=0.003). Our researches suggest that glycaemic control with IIT increases total and HMW adiponectin and leptin in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes male patients, the elevation of total and HMW adiponectin and leptin levels may predict weight gain after IIT.