A Tangled Threesome: Adiponectin, Insulin Sensitivity, and Adiposity

摘要

The discovery nearly two decades ago that the adipocyte is more than a passive storehouse for lipids, that it is also an active secretory unit for peptides capable of system-wide regulation of energy metabolism, ushered .in an exciting era of investigation into these newfound adipose-derived hormones (1). One intriguing object of these efforts has been the 244-amino acid protein adiponectin (2). Alone among major adipokines, adiponectin exhibits decreased rather than increased production with fat-mass expansion. Adiponectin is also the most abundantly secreted of all adipose-tissue peptides, and circulating levels correlate negatively with insulin resistance (IR), dyslipidemia, and inflammation (3). Such features have heightened interest in this molecule as a potential therapeutic target against the modern scourges of obesity and obesity-related disorders (2,3).