Abstract: Obesity is defined as abnormal or excessive accumulation of adipose tissue, closely associated with the increased risk of various comorbidities, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Adipose tissue is a complex structure responsible for not only fat storage but also releasing adipokines which may play roles in the pathogenesis and could be developed into biomarkers for diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of obesity-related metabolic diseases. This review aims to summarize several adipokines discovered recently that have promising functions in obesity and T2DM. Among them, the levels of FSTL1, WISP1 and Asprosin in subjects with obesity or diabetes are commonly higher than in normal controls, suggesting that they may be pathogenic. Inversely, SFRP5, Metrnl, NRG4 and FAM19A5 may serve as the protective factors.
Keywords: adipokines, obesity, diabetes