Abstract
Background:
Fetuin-A has been associated with insulin resistance and inversely related with vascular calcification. The present study evaluated whether serum fetuin-A explains the ethnic disparity in the subclinical atherosclerosis and risk for diabetes between healthy Hispanic and non-Hispanic white (NHW) subjects.
Methods:
Fetuin-A was measured in serum of 76 age-matched healthy males (41 NHW, 35 Hispanics). Bodymass index, blood pressure, serum lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels, coronary artery calcium (CAC), fasting glucose and insulin concentrations, and plasma glucose levels 2 h after a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test were measured in all participants. Insulin resistance was estimated using the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA).
Results:
Fasting insulin, fasting and 2-h serum glucose, and HOMA values were all significantly higher in Hispanics (p < 0.05 for all), yet CAC trended lower and the prevalence of very high CAC (>400 Agatston score) was lower (P = 0.03). There was no statistically significant difference in serum fetuin-A when comparing Hispanics and NHW (P = 0.12). Furthermore, there was no correlation between fetuin-A levels and CAC (P = 0.9).
Conclusions:
Serum fetuin-A concentration was not associated with measures of insulin resistance or with preclinical atherosclerosis in Hispanics and NHW. These data indicate that the disparity in prevalence of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and subclinical atherosclerosis between Hispanics and NHW does not appear attributable to differences in fetuin-A concentrations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
