Serum resistin level in essential hypertension patients with different glucose tolerance status

Objective To investigate resistin concentration in essential hypertension patients with different glucose tolerance status and the relationship between obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods Fasting serum resistin concentration was measured by enzyme immunoassay in 71 cases with essential hypertension 〔including 18 cases with type 2 DM, 26 impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), 27 normal glucose tolerance (NGT); 33 males, 38 females〕, and oral glucose tolerance test and insulin release test were performed in all cases for calculating area under the curve of glucose (AUC G) and insulin sensitivity index (ISI) according to Cederholm′s formula. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic pressure (DBP), height, body weight, waist circumference and hip circumference were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BF%) and waist hip ratio (WHR). Results Fasting serum resistin concentration (μg/L) in DM group (29.8±12.1) was higher than that in NGT group (22.0±8.4) (P0.05) and in IGT group (25.1±10.4) (P0.05). Pearson analysis showed that fasting serum resistin concentration was correlated with AUC G (r=0.38, P0.001),BF%(r=0.35,P0.01)andISI(r=-0.24,P0.05), but not correlated with SBP, DBP, BMI and WHR. Conclusion Fasting serum resistin level increases in essential hypertension patients with type 2 DM. The correlation between fasting serum resistin level and AUC G as well as BF% suggests a possibility that resistin links obesity to diabetes in humans.