Adiponectin is increased and correlated with the degree of proteinuria, but plasma leptin is not changed in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis

AIM: Altered regulation of adiponectin and leptin may be relevant to endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular complications in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis. METHODS: The relationship between the levels of plasma adiponectin, leptin and proteinuria, glomerular filtration rate and metabolic risk factors was investigated in 38 patients with chronic glomerulonephritis. RESULTS: Plasma adiponectin was much higher in patients with heavy proteinuria (38.8 +/- 27.8 microg/mL) than in patients with mild proteinuria (13.3 +/- 5.1 microg/mL, P < 0.001) and with moderate proteinuria (18.1 +/- 8.0 microg/mL, P < 0.01). The levels of serum leptin were not changed among these groups. Proteinuria and lipoprotein(a) were a strong and direct correlate of plasma adiponectin (r = 0.75, P < 0.0001), while serum albumin and the glomerular filtration rate correlated inversely with this protein (r = -0.56, P = 0.0002; r = 0.38, P = 0.02). Body mass index and triglyceride were direct correlates (r = 0.37, P = 0.02 and r = 0.37, P = 0.02, respectively) of plasma leptin in patients with glomerulonephritis. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma adiponectin but not plasma leptin levels correlate with proteinuria in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis.