The association between serum adiponectin levels and the severity of coronary artery lesions on the angiogram

Objectives: Decreased serum adiponectin levels have been shown in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). We evaluated the association between serum adiponectin levels and CAD severity on the angiogram.
Study design: The study included 86 patients (70 males, 16 females; mean age 60 years) with angiographically documented CAD (≥50% stenosis). The patients were divided into three groups according to the number of vessels affected; thus, 18 had single-vessel, 16 had two-vessel, and 52 had multiple-vessel disease. The severity of coronary lesions was assessed using the modified Gensini score. Serum adiponectin levels were measured in the CAD group and in a control group of 33 subjects (16 males, 17 females; mean age 54.8 years) who were found to have normal coronary arteries on angiography.
Results: The mean age, the number of male patients, and the number of smokers were significantly higher in the CAD group (p=0.01). Patients with CAD exhibited significantly lower serum levels of adiponectin compared to the control group (2.0±2.0 µmg/dl vs. 3.2±2.7 µmg/dl; p=0.01). There were no significant differences in adiponectin levels between patients with single-, two, and multiple-vessel disease. Compared to the controls, patients with two- and multiple-vessel disease had significantly lower adiponectin levels (1.5±0.9 µg/dl and 2.0±2.0 µg/dl, respectively), whereas those with single-vessel disease (2.6±2.5 µg/dl) did not differ from the controls in this respect. The mean Gensini score was 3.8±1.7 in the CAD group. There was a weak inverse correlation between serum adiponectin levels and the Gensini score (r=-0.209; p=0.02).
Conclusion: Serum adiponectin levels are decreased in CAD patients compared to controls. This decrease is more prominent with increasing levels of CAD severity, which may be a helpful clue of multivessel disease.

Keywords: Adiponectin, biological markers, coronary angiography, coronary artery disease/blood/classification