Adiponectin: Are Measurements Clinically Useful in Pregnancy?

Adiponectin (AdpN) is an abundantprotein that circulates in blood inmicrogram quantities. Although AdpN is primarily produced by adipose tissue, the paradox of AdpN is that plasma concentrations decrease with increasing adiposity (1,2). AdpN concentrations are decreased in obesity (3) and obesity-related complications—for example, diabetes, car-diovascular diseases, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and in pregnancy (4,5). AdpN exerts pleiotropic actions including potent insulin sensitizing properties. Stud-ies in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and gesta-tional diabetesmellitus (GDM) suggest that the deficiency of AdpN triggers the pro-gression to insulin resistance and the de