The Relationship Between Plasma Leptin, Adiponectin Levels And Degree Of Coronary Artery Stenosis In Patients With Coronary Heart Disease

Objective: The pathophysiologic mechanisms of coronary heartdisease (CHD) is not known well. Recent studies showed leptin andadiponectin might play important roles in the occurrence anddevelopment of CHD. The purpose of the present study is to investigatethe relationship between plasma leptin, adiponectinlevels and degree ofcoronary artery stenosis.Methods: The plasma leptin and adiponectin levels were measuredby radioimmunoassay in 20 patients with coronary atherosclerosis(coronary stenosis less than 50%), 53 patients with coronary heart disease(coronary stenosis more than 50%), and 20 control subjects with normalcoronary artery. The degree of artery stenosis was confirmed by coronaryangiographies and assessed quantitatively with Gensini score.Result: The plasma leptin levels of coronary atherosclerosis andCHD groups were significantly higher than that of control grouprespectively (P＜0.01); The plasma adiponectin levels of coronaryatherosclerosis and CHD groups were significantly lower than that ofcontrol group respectively (P＜0.01); As the Gensini score increased, theleptin levels increased (P＜0.05), the adiponectin levels decreased(P＜0.05).Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) have the highestconcentration lever of leptin (0.83±0.13ug/l),but the lowest lever ofadiponectin (1.10±0.11mg/l).Patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) have a higher concentration lever of leptin (0.70±0.21ug/l) than patientswith atherosclerosis only (0.60±0.11ug/l),but a lower lever of adiponectin(1.22±0.20mg/l)than patients with atherosclerosis only (1.34±0.15mg/l),The no-Atherosclerosis control group (NC) have the lowest concentrationlever of leptin (0.51±0.12ug/l), but the highest lever of adiponectin(1.45±0.14mg/l), P＜0.05. As the Body Mass Index (BMI) increased, theleptin levels increased (P＜0.05), the adiponectin levels decreased(P＜0.05).The plasma levels of leptin was found to be positively correlated with thedegree of coronary artery stenosis (r=0.643, P＜0.01), negativelycorrelated with the plasma levels of adiponectin (r=-0.637, P＜0.01); Theplasma levels of adiponectin was found to be negatively correlated withthe degree of coronary artery stenosis(r=-0.558, P＜0.01).Conclusion: The arterial plasma leptin and adiponectin levels wererelated closely to the degree of coronary artery stenosis in the patientswith coronary atherosclerosis and CHD. The finding suggests that leptinand adiponectin might be involved in the pathophysiologic process ofcoronary atherosclerosis and be used to estimate the degree of coronaryartery stenosis.