Source
Mike Rosenbloom Laboratory for Cardiovascular Research, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Visfatin is a recently described adipose tissue derived hormone whose role in humans remains largely unknown.
OBJECTIVES:
To determine visfatin's relationship to lipoproteins and body composition parameters in Asian Indians and Caucasians.
DESIGN:
A cross-sectional study.
PATIENTS:
Men and women living in Montreal, Canada between the ages of 20 and 60 years were recruited for participation in this study. Subjects were excluded if they had a history of CVD or were taking lipid lowering medication. Individuals identified themselves as Asian Indian or Caucasian.
MEASUREMENTS:
Anthropometric measurements were collected including weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference and body fat percentage (BF%). Serum samples were analysed for total cholesterol, HDL-C, apoA1, apoB and visfatin.
RESULTS:
There was no difference in visfatin levels between Indian and Caucasian men (64.50 +/- 3.98 ng/ml vs 73.01 +/- 6.45 ng/ml, ns, respectively) and Indian and Caucasian women (59.03 +/- 5.71 ng/ml vs 77.70 +/- 7.63 ng/ml, ns, respectively), despite large differences in BF%, apoB and the apoB/apoA1 ratio. Visfatin correlated positively to HDL-C and apoA1 in the Indian men (R = 0.42, P = 0.004 and R = 0.48, P = 0.003) and Indian women (R = 0.46, P = 0.05 and R = 0.59, P = 0.01).
CONCLUSION:
Visfatin concentrations may be related to HDL metabolism in Asian Indian immigrants.