and Purpose-The evaluation of the leptin:adiponectin ratio (L:A) has been suggested as an atherosclerotic index in patients with type 2 diabetes and a useful parameter to assess insulin resistance in patients with and without diabetes. Methods-We investigated, therefore, the relationship between L:A ratio and intima media thickness (IMT), an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease, in 110 healthy males. Results-L:A ratio was significantly correlated to body mass index, waist, hip,

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... to-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, IMT, high-density lipoprotein, apolipoprotein A-I, glucose, and the homeostasis model of insulin resistance-revised. No significant correlation was observed with age, diastolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, apolipoprotein B, ApoB/ApoA-I ratio, insulin, alanine transaminase, ␥-glutamyl-transferase, and resistin. In addition, when the relationship between IMT and adiponectin or leptin alone was analyzed, only leptin plasma levels significantly associated with IMT (rϭ0.301, PϽ0.01). In a multiple regression analysis including in the statistical model the risk factors known to affect IMT (age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, total cholesterol, body mass index, glucose, and L:A ratio), we observed that only age, L:A, and glucose were independent predictors of IMT. As expected, obese subjects (body mass index Ͼ30 kg/m 2 ) showed a significantly higher L:A ratio compared with nonobese subjects (1.20 versus 0.42, respectively, PϽ0.001); in addition, subjects with the metabolic syndrome showed a significantly higher L:A ratio level (0.79) compared with subjects without (0.52) (PϽ0.01). Conclusions-We show here that the L:A ratio is a powerful independent predictor of IMT in healthy subjects and correlates with several anthropometric, metabolic, and clinical parameters better than each single adipokine. (Stroke.