RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Obesity is an increasingly prevalent global health problem, which is generally caused by the increase in body fat mass above normal and observed in all societies. If the blood glucose level is higher than normal but not high enough to diagnose diabetes, this condition is defined as prediabetes. Adiponectin increases fatty acid oxidation and insulin sensitivity and is closely associated with obesity. One of the nuclear receptor superfamily member peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors is shown to have an important role in various metabolic reactions. This study aimed to investigate the serum levels of adiponectin and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-gamma parameters, which are closely related to adipose tissue, energy metabolism, and insulin sensitivity, in obese patients with and without prediabetes. METHODS: For this purpose, 52 obese patients with prediabetes, 48 obese patients with non-prediabetes, and 76 healthy individuals were included in this study. Serum adiponectin and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-γ levels were analyzed by ELISA. RESULTS: Serum adiponectin levels were significantly higher in obese patients with prediabetes (18.15±15.99) compared with the control group (15.17±15.67; p=0.42). No significant difference was observed in both adiponectin and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-γ levels in the obese patients with the non-prediabetes group compared with the control group. However, no significant difference was observed in the obese patients with prediabetes group and obese patients with non-prediabetes group. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that adiponectin may serve as an indicator of prediabetes. This implies that examining adiponectin levels in individuals diagnosed with prediabetes may enhance our understanding of the metabolic processes closely linked to prediabetes and related conditions.