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Adiponectin, type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome: lessons from human genetic studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2006

Francis Vasseur
Affiliation:
Biostatistics Department Medical School and Public Health Clinics, University Hospital, Lille, France.
David Meyre
Affiliation:
CNRS 8090, Institute of Biology, Pasteur Institute, Lille, France.
Philippe Froguel
Affiliation:
CNRS 8090, Institute of Biology, Pasteur Institute, Lille, France. Genomic Medicine and Genome Centre, Hammersmith Campus, Imperial College London, UK.

Abstract

Adiponectin, a protein exclusively secreted by adipose tissue but present at low levels in obesity, is now widely recognised as a key determinant of insulin sensitivity and of protection against obesity-associated metabolic syndrome. In this review we explain how genetic findings have contributed to a better understanding of the physiological role of adiponectin in humans. The adiponectin-encoding gene, ADIPOQ (ACDC), is very polymorphic: many frequent exonic synonymous, intronic and promoter single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified, as well as a few rare exonic amino acid substitutions. Several of these variations additively contribute to the modulation of adiponectin level and function, and associate with insulin sensitivity, type 2 diabetes and vascular complications of obesity.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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