of adiponectin to lower glucose and reverse insulin resistance suggests that it may 30 have application as a diabetes drug yamauchi et al nat med 7 941 946 2001 berg et al nat med 7 947 953 2001 furthermore a proteolytically cleaved fragment of adiponectin was shown to cause weight loss in obese animals fruebis et al proc natl acad sci usa 98 20 15 2010 2001 this protein directly or indirectly affects at least four cell types adiponectin modulates nf u03bab mediated signals in human aortic endothelial cells presumably accounting for their reduced adhesiveness for monocytes ouchi et al circulation 102 1296 1301 2000 the protein suppresses differentiation of myeloid progenitor cells and has discrete effects on two monocyte cell lines yokota blood 96 1723 1732 2000 adiponectin reduces the viability of these cells and blocks lps induced production of tnf u03b1 it appears to utilize the clqrp receptor on normal macrophages and blocks their ability to phagocytose particles yokota 2000 intact or cleaved forms of adiponectin cause increased fatty acid oxidation by muscle cells in treated mice fruebis 2001 the protein may also induce metabolic changes in hepatocytes yamauchi et al 2001 berg et al 2001 furthermore adiponectin was found to block myelopoiesis in clonal assays of hematopoietic cell precursors yokota 2000 the examples demonstrate that recombinant adiponectin blocks fat cell formation in complex long term bone marrow cultures ltbmc this response appears to result from the induction of cyclooxygenase cox 2 and prostaglandins pgs in pre adipocytes macrophages play a central role in immune responses by means of secretion of inflammatory cytokines phagocytic activity and antigen presentation the results show that adiponectin inhibits phagocytosis and lps induced tnf u03b1 expression of mature macrophages and suggest that.