Correlation analysis of obesity phenotypes with leptin and adiponectin

Obesity can be categorized as metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO). However, individuals with MHO are characterized by the absence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and appear to have lower inflammation levels compared to MUO. This study aimed to investigate the association of obesity phenotypes with leptin (LEP) and adiponectin (ADP). According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 178 subjects from the previous cross-sectional survey. Based on the body mass index (BMI) and diagnostic criteria of MS, we divided the individuals into three groups, including healthy control group (HC group), metabolically healthy obesity group (MHO group) and metabolically unhealthy obesity group (MUO group). The concentrations of LEP and ADP in serum were measured, and the association of these two cytokines with different obesity phenotypes were subsequently analyzed. Compared to both the HC and MHO groups, the MUO group showed significantly higher BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (Homa-IR) and blood pressure (P < 0.05). In contrast, serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was notably lower in the MUO group (P < 0.05). ADP was found to have a positive correlation with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and a negative correlation with FPG in the MHO group. In the MUO group, LEP demonstrated a positive correlation with fasting insulin (FINS) and Homa-IR, while ADP showed a positive correlation with TC and SBP. Linear regression analysis further indicated that SBP (β = 0.234, P = 0.043), TG (β = − 0.292, P = 0.001) and LDL-C (β = 0.626, P = 0.000) were independently correlated with ADP, and BMI (β = 0.398, P = 0.002) was independently correlated with LEP in obese individuals. In conclusion, ADP and LEP were closely related with glucose and lipid metabolism in obese individuals, these two cytokines might play critical roles in obesity-associated metabolic disorders.