Adiponectin is the most highly expressed adipocyte protein and is readily measurable in serum. It

has been extensively studied in the context of obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome and has

been clearly shown to have a direct role in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Being negatively

correlated with fat mass and acting as an insulin sensitizer, it represents one critical link between

fat mass and diabetes. It also has directly anti-inflammatory actions. Vascular disease and other

consequences of diabetes are among the most major diseases of our era in the developed and

developing worlds. This then states the general prominence of the protein. This proposal concerns

the biomarker potentials of adiponectin ranging beyond its pathogenic role in diabetes. We focus

on its potential as a pharmacoepidemiological marker and on its relationships to many other

facets of the clinical phenome.