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Plasma Resistin Levels and Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Ischemic Stroke

Departments of Epidemiology (C.W., H.B., T.P.), Clinical Nutrition (M.M., J.S.), German Institute of Human Nutrition Postdam-Rehbruecke, 14558 Nuthetal, Germany; Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry (S.W., J.D.), Otto-von-Guericke University, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany; Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine (K.B.), University of Muenster, 48149 Muenster, Germany; Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition (M.M., J.S.), Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, 1220 Berlin, and Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Economics (S.N.W., T.P.), Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Mitte, D-10117 Berlin, Germany; Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition (E.B.R.), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; and Channing Laboratory (E.B.R.), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Cornelia Weikert, M.D., M.P.H., Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114-116, D-14558 Nuthetal, Germany. E-mail: weikert{at}dife.de.

Context: Resistin is a hormone that has been linked to insulin resistance, inflammatory processes, and coronary heart disease in case-control studies; however, prospective data on the association between plasma resistin levels and future risk of cardiovascular disease are lacking.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the association between plasma resistin levels and risk of future myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic stroke (IS) in a large prospective cohort.

Methods: We investigated the association between plasma resistin levels and risk of MI and IS in a case-cohort design among 26,490 middle-aged subjects from the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam Study without history of MI or stroke at time of blood draw. Plasma resistin levels were measured in baseline blood samples of 139 individuals who developed MI, 97 who developed IS, and 817 individuals who remained free of cardiovascular events during a mean follow-up of 6 yr.

Results: After multivariable adjustment for established cardiovascular risk factors including C-reactive protein, individuals in the highest compared with the lowest quartile of plasma resistin levels had a significantly increased risk of MI (relative risk 2.09; 95% confidence interval 1.01–4.31; P for trend = 0.01). In contrast, plasma resistin levels were not significantly associated with risk of IS (relative risk 0.94; 95% confidence interval 0.51–1.73; P for trend = 0.88).

Conclusion: Our data suggest that high plasma resistin levels are associated with an increased risk of MI but not with risk of IS. Further studies are needed to evaluate the predictive value of plasma resistin levels for cardiovascular disease.