ADIPOQ blocking peptide

Introduction: Adiponectin (ADIPOQ), involved in regulating glucose levels and fatty acid oxidation, plays key roles in metabolic derangements such as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Previously, several studies have been conducted to assess the association between ADIPOQ + 45 T/G polymorphism and risk of GDM. The results, however, are inconclusive. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the polymorphism on the risk of GDM using a meta-analysis. Materials and methods: After databases searching, eight records were identified. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the association between ADIPOQ + 45 T/G polymorphism and risk of GDM. Results: No significant association was observed between the ADIPOQ + 45 T/G polymorphism and the risk of GDM (heterozygote comparison: OR = 1.15, 95% CI, 0.70-1.89; homozygote comparison: OR = 1.21, 95% CI, 0.48-3.03; dominant model: OR = 0.86, 95% CI, 0.50-1.48, recessive model: OR = 1.21, 95% CI, 0.62-2.33, and allele comparison: OR = 1.17, 95% CI, 0.79-1.76, respectively). Apparent heterogeneity was detected. However, no evidence of publication bias was found. Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides evidence that the ADIPOQ + 45 T/G polymorphism was not related to the risk of GDM. Further multicenter, prospective studies with larger sample size would be valuable to confirm the result.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT), as the main site of adaptive thermogenesis, exerts beneficial metabolic effects on obesity and insulin resistance. BAT has been previously assumed to contain a homogeneous population of brown adipocytes. Utilizing multiple mouse models capable of genetically labeling different cellular populations, as well as single-cell RNA sequencing and 3D tissue profiling, we discovered a brown adipocyte subpopulation with low thermogenic activity coexisting with the classical high-thermogenic brown adipocytes within the BAT. Compared with the high-thermogenic brown adipocytes, these low-thermogenic brown adipocytes had substantially lower Ucp1 and Adipoq expression, larger lipid droplets, and lower mitochondrial content. Functional analyses showed that, unlike the high-thermogenic brown adipocytes, the low-thermogenic brown adipocytes have markedly lower basal mitochondrial respiration, and they are specialized in fatty acid uptake. Upon changes in environmental temperature, the 2 brown adipocyte subpopulations underwent dynamic interconversions. Cold exposure converted low-thermogenic brown adipocytes into high-thermogenic cells. A thermoneutral environment had the opposite effect. The recruitment of high-thermogenic brown adipocytes by cold stimulation is not affected by high-fat diet feeding, but it does substantially decline with age. Our results revealed a high degree of functional heterogeneity of brown adipocytes.