tabLongitudinal Increases in Adiposity Contribute to Worsening Adipokine Profile over Time in Mexican Americans

OBJECTIVES: Limited studies have assessed the relationship between longitudinal changes in adiposity and changes in multiple adipokines over time. We examined changes in BMI, total body and trunk fat associated with changes in 16 circulating adipokines in Mexican Americans at risk for type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Participants included 1,213 individuals with cross-sectional data and a subset of 368 individuals with follow-up measures (mean 4.6±1.5 years from baseline). Joint multivariate associations between 3 adiposity measures and 16 adipokines were assessed by canonical correlation analysis. RESULTS: Longitudinal increases in adiposity were most strongly associated with increasing leptin, CRP and IL-1Ra, and decreasing adiponectin and SFRP5 over time. Participants with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2) at baseline had greater increases in leptin, CRP, IL-1Ra, and IL-6, and greater decreases in adiponectin and SFRP5, associated with increasing adiposity over follow-up than those with BMI <30 kg/m(2). Associations between adiposity and adipokines were most accounted for by leptin; adjustment for leptin greatly reduced the magnitude of all associations between adiposity and remaining adipokines. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing adiposity contributes to a worsening imbalance of pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokines over time, in which leptin may have an important role as a key mediator of metabolic disease risk in Mexican Americans.