Adiponectin
An adipokine that improves insulin sensitivity — and falls as fat rises.
A feedback loop pointing the wrong way: the signal that would help most is the one that thins out exactly when it is needed.
Identity
- Class
- Adipokine (circulates as trimers, hexamers, and HMW multimers)
- Source
- Adipocytes
- Receptor
- Adiponectin receptors AdipoR1 and AdipoR2
Key properties
Evidence floorPreclinicalREF1PRE1Approximate values for the native hormone; engineered analogs are often deliberately larger and far longer-acting. Each figure carries its own provenance tier, and the floor is the weakest of them - the Standard.
Mechanism
Adiponectin enhances insulin sensitivity and fatty-acid oxidation, acting in part through AMPK. Unusually among adipokines, its circulating level is inversely related to fat mass — it falls in obesity and rises with metabolic improvement.
Reference notes
- Its inverse relationship to fat mass is the opposite of leptin's.
- It circulates as several multimer sizes; the high-molecular-weight form is considered the most metabolically active.
- Higher adiponectin generally tracks with better insulin sensitivity.
Common questions
- What is Adiponectin?
- An adipokine that improves insulin sensitivity — and falls as fat rises. Structurally it is Adipokine (circulates as trimers, hexamers, and HMW multimers).
- How does Adiponectin work?
- Adiponectin enhances insulin sensitivity and fatty-acid oxidation, acting in part through AMPK. Unusually among adipokines, its circulating level is inversely related to fat mass — it falls in obesity and rises with metabolic improvement.
- How strong is the evidence for Adiponectin?
- PeptideHormone grades Adiponectin at the "Established" evidence tier — its mechanism and core effects are settled across the peer-reviewed literature. It is catalogued as an endogenous signal the body produces itself, and the tier is an editorial judgment about the public literature that can change as the science does.
- What is the half-life of Adiponectin?
- The reported circulating half-life of Adiponectin is Hours (poorly characterized in humans).
Selected literature
Curated peer-reviewed reviews, sourced from PubMed. Selected for relevance, not exhaustive — open any entry on PubMed for the full record and its primary citations.
- 1.Adiponectin Regulation and Function · Comprehensive Physiology, 2018 · PMID 29978896
- 2.Adiponectin, Leptin and Cardiovascular Disorders · Circulation research, 2021 · PMID 33411633
External references
Adiponectin in the public knowledge graph — the same entity resolved across the authoritative chemistry and protein databases.