Associations of serum transthyretin with triglyceride in non-obese elderly Japanese women independently of insulin resistance, HDL cholesterol, and adiponectin.

Objective: Studies are limited on the association between serum transthyretin (TTR), a negative acute phase reactant, and triglyceride (TG).

Research Design And Methods: TG, TTR, and insulin resistance-related cardiometabolic variables were measured in 159 fasting and 185 nonfasting community-dwelling elderly women aged 50-96 years. Pearson correlation analysis and then stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to further identify the most significant variables contributing to the variation of fasting and nonfasting TG.

Results: Multiple regression analysis for fasting TG as a dependent variable revealed that TTR (standardized β: 0.299) and HDL cholesterol (standardized β: -0.545) emerged as determinants of TG independently of percentage of body fat, homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance, serum leptin and adiponectin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) (  = 0.36). For nonfasting TG, HDL cholesterol (standardized : - 0.461), TTR (standardized : 0.231), nonfasting insulin, a marker of insulin resistance, (standardized : 0.202), and PAI-1 (standardized : 0.187) emerged as determinants independently of percentage of body fat, nonfasting glucose, serum leptin and adiponectin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (  = 0.45).

Conclusions: Fasting and nonfasting TG showed positive association with TTR in community-dwelling elderly non-obese women independently of insulin resistance, HDL cholesterol, and adiponectin. These findings may provide a clue as to a physiological function of circulating TTR in human: an influence factor of TG-rich lipoproteins in the circulation.