Resistin involved in endothelial dysfunction among preclinical Tibetan male young adults.

INTRODUCTION

Resistin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, was found to be linked to metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance over the past decade. There is growing evidence that resistin plays a potential role in endothelial dysfunction. To the best of our knowledge, few studies have been concerned with the effect of resistin on endothelial function in a Tibetan population.

AIMS

To investigate the correlation of resistin and endothelial function among preclinical Tibetan male young adults.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All participants recruited were young adults between 30 and 40 years old of male gender in Lhasa city. All subjects were native Tibetan. A total of 90 healthy subjects were accepted after excluding hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia or coronary artery disease. The subjects were divided into three groups according to flow-mediated dilation (FMD): lower FMD (group A), intermediate FMD (group B) and higher FMD (group C). Body mass index, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and cigarette smoking were evaluated. Venous blood was sampled for the measurement of lipid profile, fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and plasma resistin quantitation. The non-invasive vascular endothelial function was evaluated through the measurement of FMD with B-mode ultrasound. The insulin resistance was estimated as homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) = FINS(mu/L)*FBG(mmol/L)/22.5.

RESULTS

No statistical significance was found between groups in age, smoking, SBP, DBP, fasting insulin, total cholesterol and HOMA-IR (p>0.05). In the lipid profile, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in group C were better than in groups A and B (p<0.01). Body mass index, which is an indicator for obesity, was much lower in group C than in group A and B (p<0.05 and 0.01 respectively). Comparison of plasma resistin concentrations: group A > group B > group C (p<0.01). Comparison of plasma ET-1 concentrations had a similar result: group A > group B > group C (p<0.05). The multivariate regression analysis showed that total cholesterol (p<0.05), LDL cholesterol (p<0.01), plasma resistin (p<0.01) and plasma ET-1 (p<0.01) were correlated with FMD.

CONCLUSIONS

Resistin is involved in endothelial dysfunction in preclinical male young Tibetan adults.