Background: Insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes are common in acromegalic subjects. The mechanism underlying this insulin resistance is unclear.
Design: We investigated the levels of the adipocytokines, resistin, adiponectin and leptin in a group of 18 acromegalic subjects and 18 control subjects matched for age, gender and body mass index.
Results: Here we demonstrate for the first time significant elevation in adiponectin levels in acromegalic subjects compared to control subjects 12.5 +/- 1.2 vs. 8.97 +/- 1.1 mg/l, P = 0.029. The resistin levels were similar in acromegalic subjects and controls; 20.65 +/- 2.99 vs. 19.03 +/- 4.72 micro g/l. No evidence of a correlation between adiponectin and insulin resistance as calculated from HOMA-R was found. No correlation was observed either between adiponectin or resistin levels and GH levels, total IGF-I or free IGF-I levels. Leptin levels were significantly reduced in acromegalic subjects, 8.22 +/- 2.26 vs. 18.3 +/- 4.1 micro g/l, P = 0.004. In control subjects, significant correlations between leptin levels and HOMA-R and between resistin levels and HOMA-R were observed. These relationships were not apparent in acromegalic subjects.
Conclusion: From these data we conclude that changes in resistin and adiponectin levels are unlikely to account for the insulin resistance of acromegaly.