1. ¹Department of Internal Medicine and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
2. ²Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
3. ³Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory, Division of Kinesiology, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada

Correspondence: C Bouchard, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4124, USA. E-mail: bouchac@pbrc.edu

Received 16 April 2002; Revised 6 August 2002; Accepted 15 August 2002.

Abstract

Objectives: The role of adipsin and adipsin Hinc II polymorphisms on the metabolic and body composition changes in response to overfeeding was studied.

Subjects: A total of 12 pairs of male monozygotic twins ate a 4.2 MJ/day energy surplus, 6 days a week, during a period of 100 days.

Results: The preoverfeeding plasma adipsin concentration correlated positively with the change in CT-measured abdominal total and subcutaneous (P<0.05) fat. The changes in abdominal total fat and abdominal subcutaneous fat correlated negatively with changes in plasma adipsin concentrations (P<0.005). Overfeeding induced greater increases in body weight, fat mass, abdominal total and subcutaneous fat (P<0.05) in 6.1 kb noncarriers (n=10) than in 6.1 kb carriers (n=14) of the adipsin Hinc II polymorphism. The 6.1 kb noncarriers had a greater increase in plasma leptin levels (P<0.01). Also the total (P<0.01) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-triglycerides (P<0.05), apolipoprotein B (P<0.05) and VLDL-cholesterol (P<0.05) levels increased more in the 6.1 kb noncarriers than in the 6.1 kb carriers.

Conclusions: Adipsin plasma level could be a predictor of the changes in abdominal subcutaneous fat during times of increased energy intake. However, a greater increase in the abdominal subcutaneous fat was related to a lower increase in the plasma adipsin level. The adipsin Hinc II 6.1 kb allele noncarriers gained more abdominal subcutaneous fat and had a greater increase in plasma levels of leptin- and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins when exposed to a long-term positive energy balance. These findings provide new information on the role of adipsin on individual differences in response to chronically elevated food intake.