Adiponectin is a collagen-like protein secreted predominantly by adipose tissue. In humans, plasma adiponectin concentrations are inversely related to measures of insulin resistance, with reduced adiponectin concentrations reported in obesity and patients with essential hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, and coronary artery disease (CAD).¹ Low serum adiponectin concentrations appear to be associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction,² but it is not clear if this increased risk is related to increased coronary disease burden.

People of South Asian descent have increased susceptibility to glucose intolerance, dyslipidaemia, and CAD, the cause(s) of which are complex and multiple.³ One small study suggested lower adiponectin concentrations in South Asians compared to body mass index (BMI) matched white people,⁴ but ethnic differences in plasma adiponectin among patients with CAD have not been reported. We hypothesised that serum adiponectin is lower in CAD patients of South Asian descent compared to white counterparts, and secondly, that there was a relation between serum adiponectin and coronary disease severity by angiography. To test these hypotheses, we performed a cross sectional study of consecutive white and South Asian patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation.

METHODS

Consecutive patients attending outpatient diagnostic cardiac catheterisation for the investigation of CAD were recruited. The South Asian patients attending our unit are almost exclusively of Punjabi origin, and their ethnic group was confirmed by direct …