Background and aims: Obesity-induced chronic low-grade inflammation is causally associated with insulin resistance leading to dyslipidaemia, which is a residual risk for coronary artery disease in patients on statin therapy. The aim of this study is to clarify the impacts of adipocytokines and obesity-associated inflammatory markers on apolipoprotein (apo) A1 and B in patients on statin therapy.
Methods: In 156 patients on statin therapy (age 70 ± 10 years; 73% men; LDL cholesterol 93 ± 22 mg/dl), serum levels of apoA1 and apoB, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and adipocytokines including adiponectin, leptin and resistin were measured using respective ELISAs.
Results: Serum apoA1 levels were significantly correlated with serum adiponectin (p<0.0001) and resistin (p<0.001), but not with leptin. Inflammatory markers, such as hs-CRP (p=0.003) and IL-6 (p<0.0001), showed strong impacts on apoA1 levels. In multivariate logistic analysis, IL-6 (p=0.004) and adiponectin (p=0.02) were significant determinants for apoA1 levels. On the other hand, serum apoB levels were significantly associated with serum leptin (p<0.001), but not with other adipocytokines or inflammatory markers.
Conclusion: IL-6 and adiponectin are strong determinants for apoA1 level, and leptin is an important factor for apoB level in patients on statin therapy.