Background: Inflammation is widely known to play a key role in the development and progression of
cardiovascular diseases. It has been observed that adipokines play an increasingly large role in systemic and local
inflammation. Therefore, adipose tissue may have a more important role than previously thought in the pathogenesis
of several disease types. We study serum levels of adiponectin and ghrelin in patients with acute myocardial
infarction (AMI) with study of some of cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: We analyzed 64 patients with acute
myocardial infarction admitted at our emergency unit and 20 age and sex matched healthy controls. Clinical
parameters, glycemic, lipid profile, tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α), interleukin -6 (IL-6), serum insulin, insulin
resistance (HOMA-IR), as well as serum adiponectin and ghrelin were assayed. Results: We found significantly (P
< 0.01) increased levels of TNF-α, IL-6, insulin, and HOMA-IR in patients with AMI rather than healthy controls.
Plasma adiponectin levels and ghrelin were significantly decreased (P < 0.01) compared to those of controls. We
found significant correlations between plasma adiponectin levels and BMI, hypertension, TNF-α and IL-6. In the
case of ghrelin, we found significant correlations with BMI, HDL-C, diabetes mellitus and fasting glucose.
Conclusions: Low serum adiponectin and ghrelin level may be risk factor for AMI independent of other traditional
cardiovascular risk factors and may provide a novel therapeutic target.