Adiponectin and infarction size in subjects with and without cerebrovascular disease

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether hypo-adiponectinemia is present in ischemic stroke patients.

METHODS: This comparative study was carried out in the Biochemistry Department, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan in 2008. In this study, plasma adiponectin concentration was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in subjects with and without ischemic cerebrovascular disease (CVD).

RESULTS: A total of 80 subjects were studied (40 patients with CVD, and 40 without CVD as controls). The mean plasma level of adiponectin of the 40 patients with ischemic CVD was significantly lower than that of the 40 subjects without CVD (4.36+/-0.21 ug/mL versus 6.97+/-0.241 ug/mL; p=0.000). Decreasing concentrations of adiponectin were negatively correlated with infarction size in ischemic CVD patients.

CONCLUSION: These data show that there are significantly lower levels of plasma adiponectin in patients with ischemic CVD. Moreover, adiponectin is negatively correlated with infarction size in these patients suggesting the possible role of adiponectin in cerebrovascular disease.