Decreased Serum Levels of Adiponectin Are a Risk Factor for the Progression to Type 2 Diabetes in the Japanese Population The Funagata study

OBJECTIVE —To examine whether decreased serum levels of adiponectin are an independent risk factor for the progression to type 2 diabetes in a Japanese population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —The serum levels of adiponectin and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) at baseline (from 1995 to 1997) were evaluated in 1,792 individuals (1,023 women and 769 men, aged 58.5 ± 12.5 years) from a cohort population ( n = 3,706) of the Funagata study. Glucose tolerance was evaluated at baseline and also at 5-year follow-up examinations ( n = 978, follow-up rate, 54.6%) according to the 1985 World Health Organization criteria. The correlation of clinical traits with serum levels of adiponectin was examined. The association of the traits with the progression to type 2 diabetes at the 5-year follow-up was also examined. RESULTS —Among the traits examined, the correlation with aging was highest ( r = 0.312, P P = 0.009). Multiple logistic regression analysis with age, sex, waist-to-hip ratio, and 2-h plasma glucose as the variables revealed that serum adiponectin level (odds ratio [per 0.1 log μg/ml] 0.766, P = 0.029) was an independent risk factor for the progression to type 2 diabetes. The subjects whose serum levels of adiponectin were in the lowest tertile were 9.320 times (95% CI 1.046–83.1) more likely to develop diabetes than those in the highest tertile ( P = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS —Decreased serum adiponectin level is an independent risk factor for progression to type 2 diabetes.