Association of serum high molecular weight adiponectin and blood pressure among non-diabetic community-dwelling men.

Adiponectin is one of the important molecules in the development of metabolic syndrome, and its concentration is decreased in obesity, type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. We aim to determine whether serum high-molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin, which is thought to represent the biological active form, was associated with a risk for the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension. The cross-sectional study was carried out in 2002. A total of 614 men, aged 58 ± 14 (range, 20-89) years, and 779 women, aged 62 ± 12 (range, 21-88) years without medications for hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia were recruited from a single community at the time of their annual health examination. In men, nonadjusted and age-adjusted mean serum HMW adiponectin were significantly lower in subjects with prehypertension and hypertension than those with normotension. In women, only nonadjusted values were higher in subjects with hypertension than those with normotension. Multiple linear regression analysis using systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) as an objective variable, adjusted for risk factors as explanatory variables, showed that only in men, log serum HMW adiponectin were significantly and independently associated with SBP and DBP. In men, lower serum HMW adiponectin categories were positively associated with prehypertension and hypertension in an age-adjusted model, and hypertension in an age- and BMI-adjusted model. Serum HMW adiponectin concentrations were inversely associated with blood pressure (BP) in the general male population.