Low serum adiponectin level is predictor of arterial stiffness in new onset diabetes after renal transplantation

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the level of adiponectin in serum of renal transplant patients is associated with arterial stiffness related to new onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT). Methods: A total of 90 previously non-diabetic patients who underwent renal transplantation between 1999 and 2009 were enrolled. We evaluated their diabetic risk factors, lipid profiles, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), ankle-brachial blood pressure index (ABPI) and serum adiponectin level before and after transplantation. Results: Eleven (12.2%) patients were diagnosed with NODAT and 79 (87.8%) without (non-NO-DAT). The mean post-transplant serum adiponectin level in NODAT patients was significantly lower than that in non-NODAT patients (11.9 vs. 16.4 μg/ml, p = 0.01), whereas the mean baPWV level in NODAT patients was significantly higher (1686 vs. 1468 cm/s, p = 0.016). We found a significant inverse correlation between mean pre-transplant serum adiponectin and baPWV level (r = -0.27, p = 0.011). Furthermore, patients with lower pretransplant serum adiponectin levels (<20 μg/ml) developed NODAT significantly more frequently than those with higher levels (p = 0.038) and the mean baPWV level in the former was also significantly higher (1520 vs. 1412 cm/s, p = 0.047). Conclusion: Our results indicate that low pre-transplant serum adiponectin level is associated with arterial stiffness in development of NODAT in patients who undergo renal transplantation.