Role of adiponectin and some other factors linking type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity

Core Tip

Core tip: The objective of this article is to establish the connection of obesity with that of insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by analyzing the recent developments in this field. The factors linking the three have been found to be some adipocytokines as well as certain other factors not of adipocyte origin. Of these, adiponectin appears to play the most beneficial role (so also leptin, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, apelin, etc.), while others (tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, resistin, retinol binding protein-4, dipeptidyl peptidase-4, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, visfatin, free fatty acid, angiotensin II and toll-like receptors) are harmful. Agonists and antagonists of these factors may be designed to fight against obesity, thereby achieving protection for IR and T2DM.