The adiponectin to leptin ratio, a still unrecognized biomarker of insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk

Abstract

Leptin and adiponectin are two adipokines. Their circulating concentrations, high for leptin and low for adiponectin, are predictive of insulin resistance and of an unfavorable cardiometabolic evolution in patients with obesity, metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. In addition, recently, the adiponectin/leptin ratio has been proposed as an index of adipose tissue dysfunction together with threshold values for cardiometabolic risk for this index. The relevance and potential applications of the adiponectin/leptin and leptin/adiponectin ratios are discussed in the light of recent literature in this brief update.