Sex‐specific effects of adiponectin on carotid intima‐media thickness and incident cardiovascular disease

Background: Plasma adiponectin levels have previously been inversely associated with carotid intima‐media thickness (IMT), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. In this study, we used a sex‐stratified Mendelian randomization approach to investigate whether adiponectin has a causal protective influence on IMT.\ud \ud Methods and Results: Baseline plasma adiponectin concentration was tested for association with baseline IMT, IMT progression over 30 months, and occurrence of cardiovascular events within 3 years in 3430 participants (women, n=1777; men, n=1653) with high cardiovascular risk but no prevalent disease. Plasma adiponectin levels were inversely associated with baseline mean bifurcation IMT after adjustment for established risk factors (β=−0.018, P