Ethnic Differences in the Relationship Between Adiponectin and Insulin Sensitivity in South Asian and Caucasian Women

OBJECTIVE — To assess whether lower adiponectin concentrations in South Asian Indians may be responsible for their greater degree of insulin resistance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS — Insulin-mediated glucose uptake and plasma total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin concentrations were quantified in 52 women of South Asian (SA) and Caucasian (CAU) ancestry and compared. RESULTS — Mean SD total (2,965 1,278 vs. 4,235 160 ng/ml) and HMW (1,001 352 vs. 1,591 854 ng/ml) adiponectin were lower in SAs than CAUs (P 0.005). Insulin-resistant CAUs (CAU-IR) had lower total (2,665 1,040 vs. 5,133 1,086 ng/ml) and HMW (987 479 vs. 1,935 838 ng/ml) adiponectin than insulin-sensitive CAUs (CAU-IS) (P 0.01), but there were no significant differences between insulin-resistant (SA-IR) and insulin-sensitive (SA-IS) SAs. HMW adiponectin did not differ between SA-IR and CAU-IR, but SA-IS had significantly lower adiponectin concentrations than CAU-IS. CONCLUSIONS — Insulin resistance status is not associated with significantly lower levels of adiponectin in these SA women, in contrast to the CAU women. Diabetes Care 31:798–801, 200