Association of coffee consumption with serum adiponectin, leptin, inflammation and metabolic markers in Japanese workers: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Mechanisms underlying coffee's beneficial actions against cardiovascular disease and glucose metabolism are not well understood. Little information is available regarding association between coffee consumption and adipocytokines. OBJECTIVE: We investigated potential associations between coffee consumption and adiponectin, leptin, markers for subclinical inflammation, glucose metabolism, lipids and liver enzymes. We then investigated whether adipocytokines played a role in the association between coffee consumption and these markers. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: This is a cross-sectional study comprising 2554 male and 763 female Japanese workers. Potential relations between coffee consumption and adipocytokines or other markers were evaluated using a multiple linear regression model adjusted for confounding factors. We evaluated whether adiponectin and leptin partly explain the associations between coffee consumption and each marker by multiple mediation analysis. RESULTS: Coffee consumption showed significant positive associations with adiponectin and total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and inverse associations with leptin, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), triglycerides and liver enzymes (all P<0.05). An adjustment for adiponectin and leptin significantly attenuated the associations between coffee consumption and hs-CRP or triglycerides, but not for liver enzymes. No associations were observed between coffee consumption and glucose metabolism-related markers. CONCLUSION: Coffee consumption was associated with high adiponectin and low leptin levels. We speculated that adipocytokines mainly explain the associations of coffee consumption with lipids and hs-CRP. Factors other than adipocytokines may explain the association between coffee consumption and liver function. Nutrition and Diabetes (2012) 2, e33; doi:10.1038/nutd.2012.6; published online 2 April 2012