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Introduction:Low adiponectin levels may predict the development of atherosclerosis. We examined the association of childhood adiponectin with preclinical carotid atherosclerosis that is defined as plaque and/or high (≥95th percentile) intima-media thickness (IMT) at the carotid bifurcation in adulthood. Methods:The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study is a cohort study on cardiovascular risk factors. We used risk factor data from the baseline study (1980) and ultrasound findings from the follow-ups (2001 and 2007). The study population included 1708 participants, aged 3–18 years at baseline. Results:In multivariate analysis, childhood adiponectin was inversely associated with preclinical carotid atherosclerosis: odds ratio 0.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53–0.86, p = .001, for 1-SD increase in childhood adiponectin after adjusting for childhood non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, body mass index, and blood pressure. When examining the incremental predictive ability, we observed that compared to an approach utilizing only conventional risk factors, the model additionally including adiponectin levels improved c-statistics area under curve from 0.733 (95% Cl 0.694–0.771) to 0.748 (95% Cl 0.710–0.786), p = .02. Conclusions:Childhood adiponectin levels improve the prediction of carotid atherosclerosis in adulthood over conventional risk factors. This supports the idea that low adiponectin levels may have a role in the development of preclinical atherosclerosis.Key messagesChildhood adiponectin levels improve the prediction of increased carotid intima-media thickness in adulthood over conventional cardiovascular risk factors.These results suggest that adiponectin levels measured in childhood may have a role in the atherosclerotic process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Objective: Adipose-tissue derived adiponectin has gained a lot of interest as a marker of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular risk. The objective of this study was to assess whether adiponectin levels in young adults predict the incidence of MetS after 6-year follow-up. To gain insight on the interrelations between MetS, adiponectin and cardiovascular risk, we also examined the associations of adiponectin and carotid atherosclerosis according to MetS status. Methods: This analysis was part of a population-based, longitudinal cohort study conducted among 1693 Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study individuals (age 31.9±4.9 years in 2001) participating in follow-ups in 2001 and 2007. Results: In a multivariable model adjusted for age, sex, MetS components, LDL-cholesterol, CRP, insulin, leptin, smoking and family history of coronary disease, 1-unit increase in baseline adiponectin levels was associated with reduced odds (odds ratio [OR]=0.94, 95% CI 0.89–0.99, P =0.04) of incident MetS. Of the MetS components, adiponectin levels were inversely associated with the incidence of hyperglycemia in multivariable analyses (OR=0.94 (0.90–0.99), P =0.04). When studying the adiponectin×MetS interaction on IMT, we observed a significant interaction when examining IMT in 2001 (r =−0.11 (MetS(−)) vs. r =−0.17 (MetS(+)), P for interaction 0.047) and IMT in 2007 (r =−0.12 (MetS(−)) vs. r =−0.21 (MetS(+)), P for interaction 0.005), suggesting the inverse association between adiponectin and IMT is stronger among those with MetS. Conclusions: Among young adults, high adiponectin levels were associated with decreased incidence of MetS. Moreover, our data suggest that individuals with MetS are more vulnerable to the proatherogenic effects of low adiponectin levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aims. Adiponectin may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. We investigated the relation of adiponectin on early functional and structural markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in a large population-based cohort of young men and women. Methods and results. We measured serum adiponectin using radioimmunoassay in 2,147 young adults (ages 24-39 years) participating in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. The subjects had ultrasound data on carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), carotid artery elasticity ( n = 2,139) and brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) ( n = 1,996). In univariate analysis, adiponectin was inversely associated with IMT ( r = −0.16, P < 0.0001) and directly with FMD ( r = 0.12, P < 0.0001) and carotid elasticity ( r = 0.20, P < 0.0001). The associations for IMT and FMD remained significant in multivariable models adjusted for age, sex, obesity indices, serum lipids, blood pressure, leptin, glucose, and C-reactive protein: IMT (β = −0.018 ± 0.005, P = 0.0002) and FMD (β = 0.72 ± 0.25, P = 0.004). The relation between adiponectin and carotid elasticity attenuated to non-significant after adjusting for waist circumference and systolic blood pressure. Conclusion. In young healthy adults, low serum adiponectin concentration is independently related with increased carotid IMT and attenuated brachial FMD, supporting the role of adiponectin in the pathogenesis of early atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]