Adiponectina determinaría el predominio de VLDL alteradas en el síndrome metabólico

The aim of the work was to evaluate whether the reduction of adiponectin (ADP) in metabolic syndrome (MetS) affects the atherogenic features of VLDL. A total of 45 patients with MetS (ATPIII) and 15 healthy controls were studied. In fasting serum, lipid profile, free fatty acids (FFA) and ADP were determined. VLDL was isolated (d<1.006 g/L) and characterized in chemical composition and size (size exclusion-HPLC). In post-heparin plasma, lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity was measured. In MetS, VLDL showed increased total mass, particle number, VLDL-triglyceride content and higher large-VLDL proportion (p<0.05). The increase in FFA correlated with VLDL mass (r=0.36; p=0.009), VLDL particle number (r=0.45; p=0.0006) and large-VLDL proportion (r=0.32; p=0.02). MetS patients showed a decrease in ADP (7.4±4.8 vs. 15.5±7.2 μg/mL, p=0.01) and in LPL activity (p=0.01), that positively correlated between them (r=0.38; p=0.01; adjusted by HOMA-IR and waist: β=0.35; p=0.02). ADP inversely correlated with FFA and large-VLDL% (p<0.03). It can be concluded that in MetS, decreased ADP would favour the secretion of triglyceride over-enriched and larger VLDL particles, and also would delay VLDL catabolism mediated by LPL, resulting in the accumulation of altered VLDL with atherogenic characteristics.