Abstract

Zhao Jian Jun, Song Yu Ming, Wang Jing, Zhao Feng Qin, Tan Ping and Yang Lei*

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is recognized as a multi-component disease these days. There is growing evidence that persistent low-grade systemic inflammation present in COPD may contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Adiponectin (APN) is a secretory protein synthesized by adipocytes and has important anti-inflammatory as well as antiatherosclerotic and anti-obesity effects�?while little is known before regarding the importance of APN in pulmonary inflammation of human or animal subjects and to determine whether hyperadiponectinemia could be an underlying mechanism for COPD and whether there is a relationship between plasma adiponectin level and pulmonary function. Plasma samples were obtained from 68 normal weight male patients with stable COPD and 36 healthy control subjects. Plasma concentrations of APN were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Pulmonary function testing and body mass index (BMI) were performed in all patients and control subjects. We found that plasma adiponectin levels in patients with stable COPD were significantly higher than that in control subjects (18.6 ± 2.4 μg/mL vs. 4.2 ± 0.8 μg/mL, P�?0.01). There was no correlation between adiponectin and FEV1, FEV1/FVC in COPD patients. Our data indicate that COPD patients exhibited higher plasma APN levels compared with healthy control subjects, suggesting a peculiar role for this protein in COPD pathogenesis.