Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived hormone that exerts pleiotropic effects that promote insulin sensitivity, inhibit cell death, and decrease inflammation. Adiponectin forms an obligate trimer and circulates as trimers, hexamers, and high molecular weight multimers that target multiple tissues and cell types including liver, kidney, cardiac myocytes, and pancreatic beta cells. Levels of adiponectin are decreased in obesity and may lead to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, myocardial infarction, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and kidney disease. The antiapoptotic, insulin-sensitizing, antiinflammatory, and antisteatotic effects have been linked to its role in sphingolipid metabolism and its receptor-mediated activation of ceramidase activity which reduces levels of lipotoxic ceramides (summary by Simeone et al., 2022).
Genetic Heterogeneity of Quantitative Trait Loci for Serum Level of Adiponectin
Additional quantitative trait loci for serum level of adiponectin have been mapped to chromosome 5 (ADIPQTL2; 606770), chromosome 14 (ADIPQTL3; 606771), chromosome 11 (ADIPQTL4; 612629), and chromosome 16q (ADIPQTL5; 613836). [from
OMIM]