Serum Levels of the Adipokine Zinc-α2-glycoprotein Are Decreased in Patients with Hypertension

Objective . Zinc- α 2-glycoprotein (ZAG) has recently been proposed as a new adipokine involved in body weight regulation. The purpose of this study is to investigate serum levels of ZAG in patients with hypertension and its association with related characteristics. Methods . 32 hypertension patients and 42 normal controls were recruited and the relationship between serum ZAG, total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin, and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF α ) determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and metabolic-related parameters was investigated. Results . Serum ZAG concentrations were significantly lowered in patients with hypertension compared with healthy controls (61.4 ± 32 versus 78.3 ± 42  μ g/mL, P < 0.05). The further statistical analysis demonstrated that serum ZAG levels were negatively correlated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) ( r = −0.241, P < 0.05) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ( r = −0.243, P < 0.05). Additionally, serum HMW adiponectin significantly decreased, while TNF α greatly increased in hypertension patients as compared with healthy controls (2.32 ± 0.41 versus 5.24 ± 1.02  μ g/mL, 3.30 ± 1.56 versus 2.34 ± 0.99 pg/mL, P < 0.05). Conclusions . Serum ZAG levels are significantly lowered in hypertension patients and negatively correlated with obesity-related item WHR, suggesting ZAG is a factor associated with hypertension.