Much lower prevalence of coronary calcium despite a less favourable profile of many major independent risk factors in the Japanese might imply that there are strong protective factors against atherosclerosis in the Japanese. Further investigation is of critical importance.

Levels of adiponectin are inversely associated with obesity levels. We examined the levels of adiponectin in American (n = 98) and Japanese (n = 92) men aged 40 to 49 years. Contrary to our expectations, the American men had higher evels of adiponectin than the Japanese men (13.3 ± 5.8 vs 7.3 ± 4.2 (μg/ml) despite higher levels of obesity. Smaller areas of visceral adipose tissue in American than in Japanese men may have resulted in the higher levels of adiponectin.

No abstract

We have shown in our population-based study that serum ghrelin levels among men aged 40-49 are significantly higher in Caucasian Americans than in the Japanese in Japan. Reasons for the ethnic difference in the ghrelin levels are largely unknown and warrant further investigation.

Background-Elevated plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels were associated with higher incidence of type II diabetes. Elucidating the determinants of PAI-1 in various ethnicities may help to understand the susceptibility to developing diabetes. The aim of our study was to compare PAI-1 levels between Americans and the Japanese in the post-war generation and to elucidate the determinants of the PAI-1 levels.