Background: Resistin is a peptide hormone secreted mainly from human monocytes and macrophages. It has an unclear association with the metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors such as glucose intolerance, central obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. We examined the association of resistin with metabolic syndrome and its components in a population-based cohort.
Methods: A subsample of a large Finnish cross-sectional health examination survey (the Health 2000 Survey) was studied. Resistin was measured using an in-house assay based on the DELFIA® technique in 1,508 Finnish men and women aged 45-74 years. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to five different definitions.
Results: Resistin levels were higher in the subjects with metabolic syndrome when compared to the subjects without metabolic syndrome (P < 0.05 for every metabolic syndrome criterion). In logistic regression analysis, a high resistin level was an independent predictor of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (P < 0.05 for every criterion). Resistin was positively associated with waist circumference, tumor necrosis factor-α, and insulin resistance assessed by the homeostasis model and inversely with total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol after adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index (P < 0.05 for all).
Conclusions: These results clarify the controversial association of resistin in obesity and metabolic syndrome, suggesting that a high resistin level is associated with clustering of metabolic disturbances.