Adiponectin mRNA in adipose tissue and its association with metabolic risk factors in postmenopausal obese women.

OBJECTIVE The present study evaluates adiponectin mRNA in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and also evaluates its association with metabolic risk factors in postmenopausal obese women. DESIGN A case control study was carried out on postmenopausal women (n=68), in which 34 were obese and 34 were non-obese. Blood sample, visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues were obtained. Adiponectin mRNA levels were measured by Real Time-RT PCR. RESULTS The mean (± SEM) serum adiponectin (28.39 ± 2.52 vs. 20.56 ± 1.13), VAT (0.362 ± 0.098 vs. 0.048 ± 0.005) and SAT (0.222 ± 0.035 vs. 0.042 ± 0.007) adiponectin mRNA levels were significantly lower (p<0.001) in obese than non-obese. However, the mean VAT and SAT adiponectin mRNA levels were similar (p>0.05) between the groups. Further, the mean glucose and TG levels were significantly (p<0.01 or p<0.001) higher, while HDL was lower (p<0.01) in obese than non-obese. Furthermore, VAT adiponectin mRNA also showed significant (p<0.05) and inverse association with TG, while direct association with HDL and both the associations were independent of BMI and WC (waist circumference). CONCLUSION The BMI and WC independent and significant association of VAT adiponectin mRNA with TG and HDL suggest its potential modulatory role in lipid metabolism in postmenopausal obese women.