Metabolism in Obese Adolescents

In tro duc ti on Visfatin was previously known as the pre-β cell colony-enhancing factor (1). In 2005, Fukuhara et al (2) showed that this substance is also an adipocytokine produced predominantly by human visceral adipose tissue and that its plasma levels are related to adiposity. Visfatin exerts insulin-mimetic actions through insulin receptors. Acute administration of visfatin to mice lowered glucose levels (2). Mice with chronically elevated plasma visfatin levels had decreased levels of both glucose and insulin, and plasma glucose levels were higher in mice heterozygous for visfatin deficiency than in normal mice (2). In addition, visfatin had effects on lipid homeostasis similar to that of insulin and it was also involved in adipocyte proliferation and differentiation and triglyceride (TG) metabolism (2). Based on this knowledge, circulating visfatin levels and its determinant