Association of Serum Adiponectin with Cardiac Enzymes in Diabetic Patients Having Coronary Heart Disease

Original Article

Abstract

Objective: To determine serum adiponectin levels and assess their relationship with cardiac enzymes in patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

Methodology: This Case-Control Study was conducted at Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, from October 2025 to March 2026. The study included 60 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus presenting with a first myocardial infarction and 60 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. We measured serum adiponectin and troponin I using ELISA kits, and CK, LDH, and ALT using a Micro Lab Analyzer. We analyzed the collected data using SPSS version 21. We used independent-samples t-tests to compare groups and Pearson correlations to assess associations. We considered p < 0.05 statistically significant.

Results: Serum adiponectin levels were significantly lower in cases (3.2±1.1 vs. 11.7±2.6 µg/mL, P < 0.0001). All cardiac enzymes were significantly higher in cases: Troponin I (15.7±14.6 ng/mL vs. 0.014±0.02 ng/mL) and CK (389±43.36 vs. 165±6.78 U/L). LDH (474.54±40.53 vs 321.59±28.9 U/L) and ALT (115.28±25.63 vs 45.37 ± 14.6 U/L). We observed a negative correlation between adiponectin and troponin I (r = –0.62, p<0.001) and CK (r = –0.54, p<0.001).

Conclusion: Serum adiponectin is significantly low in type 2 diabetic patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and is associated with significantly high cardiac enzymes in these cases with myocardial infarction. Adiponectin may serve as a protective biomarker in diabetic coronary heart disease