抄録
Background We have recently reported that men with a persistently elevated plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level show accumulation of metabolic syndrome-related factors, but women do not show this tendency and the cause for a gender difference is unknown. We examined the effect of high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin as a biomarker closely associated with the metabolic syndrome on this difference.
Methods Subjects who performed medical check-ups in 2005 and 2006 were enrolled. The 1681 (1061male,620 female, mean age 51.4 years) Japanese subjects without established heart disease were analyzed. The subjects were divided by sex and BNP level (higher BNP group, ≥40 pg/ml; lower BNP group, ≥40pg/ml for two consecutive years), and plasma HMW adiponectin level in the different groups were examined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.
Results Metabolic syndrome-related factors accumulated in males with higher BNP, but not in females with higher BNP. HMW adiponectin was higher in females with higher BNP (9.8 μg/ml vs. 6.1μg/ml in lower BNP group, p<0.01), but this difference was not observed in males (3.7 μg/ml vs.2.8 μg/ml, p=0.37). However, a positive correlation was confirmed between BNP and HMW adiponectin levels in both genders. HMW adiponectin level showed a positive (HDL cholesterol) or a negative (TG) correlation in both genders, and showed a negative correlation with glucose level only in females. Conclusion Our findings suggest that higher BNP level with relatively lower HMW adiponectin level may be associated with accumulation of metabolic syndrome-related factors in men.
