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Association between plasma adiponectin levels and colorectal cancer risk in women

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Abstract

Background

Adiponectin, an adipocyte-secreted hormone, has insulin-sensitizing characteristics. It remains unclear whether adiponectin may influence colorectal cancer development.

Methods

To determine whether prediagnostic levels of adiponectin were associated with risk of incident colorectal cancer in the Women’s Health Study, we conducted a nested case–control study of 275 colorectal cancer cases and 275 matched controls. Each case was matched to a control by age, ethnicity, fasting status at the time of blood collection, time of day when blood was drawn, and month of blood draw. Multivariable logistic regression with adjustment for colorectal cancer risk factors was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) for risk of colorectal cancer incidence and mortality by adiponectin quartiles based on the control distribution.

Results

Median plasma adiponectin level was similar in cases versus controls (6.00 vs. 6.24 μg/mL). In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models, high plasma adiponectin levels were not significantly associated with risk of colorectal cancer [quartile 4 (Q4) vs. quartile 1 (Q1): OR (95 % CI) 0.86 (0.48–1.56), p trend = 0.63].

Conclusions

These results suggest no appreciable association between plasma adiponectin and risk of colorectal cancer in women. Confirmation of these observations in larger studies is needed.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

g:

Grams

h:

Hours

MET:

Metabolic equivalent

mg:

Milligrams

OR:

Odds ratio

WHS:

Women’s Health Study

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the 39,876 participants in the Women’s Health Study for their dedicated and conscientious collaboration; to the entire staff of the Women’s Health Study for their expert and unfailing assistance; and to the programmers for providing assistance with the analyses. Aspirin and aspirin placebo were provided by Bayer HealthCare. Vitamin E and vitamin E placebo were provided by the Natural Source Vitamin E Association. The sponsors were not involved in the design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of the study, or in writing the manuscript. The Women’s Health is supported by Grants CA-047988, HL-043851, HL-080467, HL-099355 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. Dr. Chandler received support from Grant U01CA138962-05S1 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Conflict of interest

Drs. Zhang and Lin are currently employees of Takeda.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 900 Commonwealth Avenue, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Paulette D. Chandler, Julie E. Buring, JoAnn E. Manson, M. V. Moorthy & I-Min Lee

  2. Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Julie E. Buring, JoAnn E. Manson & I-Min Lee

  3. Takeda Pharmaceutical International, Inc., Deerfield, IL, USA

    Shumin Zhang & Jennifer H. Lin

Authors
  1. Paulette D. Chandler
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  2. Julie E. Buring
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  3. JoAnn E. Manson
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  4. M. V. Moorthy
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  5. Shumin Zhang
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  6. I-Min Lee
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  7. Jennifer H. Lin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paulette D. Chandler.

Additional information

Clinical Trial Registration Women’s Health Study NCT00000479.

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Chandler, P.D., Buring, J.E., Manson, J.E. et al. Association between plasma adiponectin levels and colorectal cancer risk in women. Cancer Causes Control 26, 1047–1052 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0590-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0590-8

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