Paradoxical decrease of an adipose-specific protein, adiponectin, in obesity

We isolated the human adipose-specific and most abundant gene transcript, a pM1 (Maeda, K., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 221, 286-289, 1996). The apM1 gene product was a kind of soluble matrix, protein, which we name d adiponectin. To quantitate the plasma adiponectin concentration, we have produced monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies for human adiponectin and dev eloped an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system. Adiponectin was abundantly present in the plasma of healthy volunteers in the range from 1 .9 to 17.0 mg/ml. Plasma concentrations of adiponectin in obese subjects we re significantly lower than those in non-obese subjects, although adiponect in is secreted only from adipose tissue. The ELISA system developed in this study will be useful for elucidating the physiological and pathophysiologi cal role of adiponectin in humans. (C) 1999 Academic Press.