Context: The adipokine adiponectin has been suggested to protect against coronary artery disease (CAD). However, studies addressing the association between adiponectin and mortality are sparse.
Objective: The objective of the study was to elucidate the relationship between adiponectin and mortality.
Design, setting, and participants: Adiponectin was determined in 2473 persons with and 673 persons without angiographic CAD. During a mean follow-up period of 5.45 yr, 427 persons with CAD and 55 persons without CAD died.
Main outcome measure: Hazard ratios for mortality according to adiponectin levels were measured.
Results: Adiponectin was positively related to female gender, age, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, homocysteine, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide. It was inversely related to glomerular filtration rate, body mass index, and triglycerides and was low in diabetes mellitus and CAD. An increase of 1 sd in adiponectin was associated with unadjusted and fully adjusted hazard ratios for death from any cause of 1.31 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20-1.42] and 1.22 (95% CI 1.12-1.34), and for death from cardiovascular causes of 1.32 (95% CI 1.19-1.45) and 1.23 (95% CI 1.11-1.37), respectively. In angiographic CAD, stable CAD, and unstable CAD, the predictive value of adiponectin was similar to that in the entire cohort, but it did not attain statistical significance in persons without angiographic CAD. Adiponectin was also positively related to the risk of death from noncardiovascular causes.
Conclusions: Despite the common view about adiponectin as a protective molecule in cardiovascular disease, high adiponectin independently predicts all-cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality in individuals with CAD.