Plasma adiponectin levels and incident glucose intolerance in Japanese–Brazilians: A seven-year follow-up study

The objective of this study was to investigate whether decreased baseline adiponectin levels are an independent risk factor for development of glucose intolerance in a population-based study of Japanese–Brazilians, a group with one of the highest prevalence rates of diabetes worldwide. We examined 210 Japanese–Brazilians (97 male and 113 female, aged 56.7 ± 10.1 years) with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Plasma adiponectin, insulin, fasting and 2-h plasma glucose and lipid profile were evaluated at baseline and also at 7-year follow-up. Plasma adiponectin levels were significantly lower in glucose intolerance progressors compared with subjects who remained NGT. By increasing tertiles of adiponectin, the frequencies of subjects who progressed to glucose intolerance were 40%, 33% and 27% and the frequencies of subjects who remained NGT were 13%, 35% and 52% (χ2 = 15.8, p = 0.001). Logistic regression analyses showed that adiponectin levels (OR for the highest versus lowest tertile: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.12–0.84, p = 0.021), male sex (OR: 2.61, 95% CI: 1.21–5.65, p = 0.015), fasting plasma glucose (0R: 3.05, 95% CI: 1.35–6.91, p = 0.008) and waist circumference (OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00–1.08, p = 0.046) were independent risk factors for the progression to glucose intolerance. In conclusion, low plasma levels of adiponectin is one of several independent predictors of glucose intolerance in a Japanese–Brazilian population.