Resistin is a hormone secreted by adipose tissue. It is also known as "serine/cysteine-rich adipocyte-Specific Secretory Factor" (ADSF or FIZZ3). The length of the resistin pre-peptide in human is 108 aminoacids (in the mouse and rat it's 114 aa); the molecular weight is ~12.5 kDa.

Physiology

Resistin is secreted by adipocytes and affects several other tissues in the body.

Role in disease

Evidence from the early studies suggested that there might be a correlation between blood glucose levels and resistin concentrations in mice. This might have provided the link between obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2 (Steppan 2001).

Later studies, however, did not show increase in blood resistin in obese humans with diabetes (Lee 2003 and Heilbronn 2004).

The research is still in progress as to the importance of resistin in the body.

Discovery

Resistin was discovered in 2001 by the group of Dr Mitchell A. Lazar from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. It was called "resistin" because of the observed insulin resistance in mice injected with resistin.

References

• Heilbronn LK et al. Relationship between serum resistin concentrations and insulin resistance in nonobese, obese, and obese diabetic subjects. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2004;89(4):1844-8.
• Lee JH et al. Circulating resistin levels are not associated with obesity or insulin resistance in humans and are not regulated by fasting or leptin administration: cross-sectional and interventional studies in normal, insulin-resistant, and diabetic subjects. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003;88(10):4848-56.
• Steppan CM et al. The hormone resistin links obesity to diabetes. Nature 2001;409:307-312.