Relationship of adiponectin and its multimers to metabolic indices in cats during weight change

• Development of a new technique combining ELISA and size-exclusion gel chromatography to measure multimeric forms of feline adiponectin.
• Evaluated total adiponectin, multimers of adiponectin, leptin, and insulin sensitivity as cats gain and lose weight.
• Total adiponectin did not correlate with fat mass, leptin, insulin sensitivity, or subcutaneous adipose mRNA expression of adiponectin.

Adiponectin is an important anti-inflammatory hormone secreted from adipose tissue. The high-molecular-weight form of adiponectin (HMW) closely correlates with insulin sensitivity in human beings. This study uses a novel method of size-exclusion gel chromatography combined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure HMW feline adiponectin and determine its relationship to leptin, cholesterol, and insulin sensitivity as cats gain and lose weight. In addition, total adiponectin and its messenger RNA expression in subcutaneous adipose tissue were measured. No correlations were found between total serum adiponectin and subcutaneous adipose messenger RNA expression, fat mass, or measures of insulin sensitivity. This study demonstrates that cats have high percentages of HMW adiponectin. Although weak correlations between HMW adiponectin and fat mass were detected, additional cats are needed to determine if the correlations are significant.