To examine whether plasma adiponectin level is correlated with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).
Blood adiponectin level in patients with nontraumatic ONFH (n = 120) was compared with a group of healthy subjects (n = 120). Patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA; n = 30) and traumatic ONFH (n = 45) were included as controls. Potential compounding factors, such as plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), apolipoprotein A1 (apo A1), apolipoprotein B (apo B), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were also examined.
Patients with nontraumatic ONFH had significantly lower plasma levels of adiponectin than the healthy controls (7.14 ± 3.53 vs 10.93 ± 3.41 μg/ml, respectively; p < 0.001). Adiponectin level was positively correlated with HDL (r = 0.282, p < 0.001) and age (r = 0.145, p = 0.01), yet negatively correlated with body mass index (r = -0.70, p < 0.001), TG (r = -0.55, p<0.001), LDL/HDL ratio (r = -0.173, p = 0.002), and CRP (r = -0.634, p < 0.001). No correlation was seen with LDL (r = -0.017, p = 0.762). A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that adiponectin level is an independent predictor of the presence of nontraumatic ONFH (p < 0.001, OR 0.676, 95% CI 0.546 to 0.845).
Low adiponectin level is significantly associated with the presence of nontraumatic ONFH. This biomarker may be useful in assessing the potential presence of nontraumatic ONFH.