Circulating low- and medium-molecular-weight adiponectin are associated with metabolic phenotypes in adults undergoing cardiometabolic screening

@article{martinezhuenchullan2026circulating,
  title = {{Circulating low- and medium-molecular-weight adiponectin are associated with metabolic phenotypes in adults undergoing cardiometabolic screening}},
  author = {Sergio Martínez-Huenchullán and Nicole Cares and Josefina Enríquez and Consuelo Quezada and Jessica Molina and Teresa Ross and Amanda Bentes and Yanara Pavez and Paola Rubilar and Catalina Ramírez-Contreras and Monserrat Fitó and Álvaro Hernáez and Viviana Sandoval},
  journal = {PLOS One},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0360041},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360041},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Circulating low- and medium-molecular-weight adiponectin are associated with metabolic phenotypes in adults undergoing cardiometabolic screening
AU  - Sergio Martínez-Huenchullán
AU  - Nicole Cares
AU  - Josefina Enríquez
AU  - Consuelo Quezada
AU  - Jessica Molina
AU  - Teresa Ross
AU  - Amanda Bentes
AU  - Yanara Pavez
AU  - Paola Rubilar
AU  - Catalina Ramírez-Contreras
AU  - Monserrat Fitó
AU  - Álvaro Hernáez
AU  - Viviana Sandoval
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/05
JO  - PLOS One
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0360041
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360041
AB  - Background and aims: Adiponectin circulates as multimers with potentially distinct biological roles, yet most human studies report total adiponectin, which may mask multimer-specific metabolic information. This study aimed to determine whether circulating low- (LMW) and medium-molecular-weight (MMW) adiponectin and their relative pattern are associated with cardiometabolic, behavioral, and chrononutrition characteristics in adults undergoing screening for the RIO Study. Methods and results: In this cross-sectional study, 112 adults who completed the screening assessment for the RIO Study underwent anthropometric/body-composition assessment, fasting biochemistry, self-reported physical activity and sitting time, and chrononutrition evaluation. Serum adiponectin multimers were quantified by Western immunoblotting; under the present experimental conditions, only low-molecular-weight (LMW) and medium-molecular-weight (MMW) multimers were consistently detectable. Associations were assessed using Pearson correlations, adjusted multiple linear regression, and principal component analysis (PCA). Exploratory correlations suggested associations of MMW adiponectin and the MMW/LMW ratio with several anthropometric and metabolic variables. However, after multivariable adjustment, most associations with adiposity and lipid variables were attenuated, whereas inverse associations with GGT and ALT persisted. MMW adiponectin remained inversely associated with GGT (β=−0.37, p < 0.001) and ALT (β=−0.32, p = 0.002). Physically active participants had higher MMW adiponectin and MMW/LMW ratios than inactive participants (FDR-adjusted p < 0.05). Exploratory PCA identified five components with eigenvalues >1, together explaining 66.6% of the total variance. LMW and MMW adiponectin contributed to the multivariate structure, including a shared adiponectin-related component. Conclusion: In this cardiometabolic screening cohort, MMW adiponectin and the MMW/LMW ratio showed persistent inverse associations with selected liver-enzyme measures, particularly GGT and ALT, after adjustment for potential confounders. These exploratory findings support further investigation of LMW and MMW adiponectin as metabolic biomarkers using longitudinal and interventional designs.
SN  - 1932-6203
ER  -