Objective: To examine the association between plasma resistin levels and the presence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women.
Research methods and procedures: Plasma resistin levels were measured in a case-control study including 185 women with angiographically confirmed CHD and 227 population-based female controls from the Coronary Risk Factors for Atherosclerosis in Women (CORA) study.
Results: After adjustment for age, smoking, family history of myocardial infarction, retirement, education, physical activity, menopausal status, hormone replacement use, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, the odds ratio for CHD for women in the highest compared with lowest quintile of plasma resistin levels was 3.19 (95% confidence interval, 1.44 to 7.10; p log trend, 0.001). After additional adjustment for plasma C-reactive protein levels, this association was substantially attenuated and no longer significant (odds ratio, 1.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.69 ti 4.69; p trend = 0.23).
Discussion: These results suggest that plasma resistin levels are significantly associated with the presence of CHD in women; however, this association can largely be explained by concomitant inflammatory processes. Further studies are needed to determine the causal role of resistin in the development of CHD in humans.