Mature Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipocyte Concentrations of Adiponectin Are Highly Correlated in Prepubertal Children and Inversely Related to Body Mass Index Standard Deviation Score

Context: Adiponectin is an adipocyte-specific protein with insulin-sensitizing properties. Several studies have examined the expression of adiponectin mRNA or tissue/secreted protein levels in fat obtained from adults, but none has assessed tissue levels in childhood. Patients: Paired subcutaneous (Sc) and visceral (V) fat samples were obtained from 12 normal-weight children. Main Outcome Measures: Mature adipocytes were isolated and total adiponectin levels determined by ELISA. Insulin sensitivity and lipid parameters were assessed in fasting blood samples taken at the time of biopsy collection. Results: A positive correlation was seen between the adiponectin concentration within the Sc and V mature adipocytes derived from each child (r = 0.924; P < 0.001). After logarithmic transformation of the Sc and V adiponectin concentrations (log-Sc and log-V) to render the data Gaussian, both log-Sc and log-V were found to be lower in those children with higher body mass index sd score (r = −0.621 and r = −0.357 respectively), although this reached statistical significance only in the Sc adipocytes (P = 0.03). Age was not related to either log-Sc or log-V adiponectin levels, although a significant negative association was seen with serum adiponectin (r = −0.589; P = 0.04). Log-Sc or log-V did not correlate with serum adiponectin concentrations, markers of insulin sensitivity, or circulating lipid levels. Conclusions: These data indicate a relationship between total adiponectin levels in different tissue compartments, suggesting either some form of interaction or coregulation by systemic factors, possibly related to body size/fat mass. Serum concentrations of total adiponectin were inversely related to age but showed no relationship with either tissue levels or body mass index sd score.