Adiponectin as a putative modulator of hepatitis in chronic HCV-infection

Introduction: Adiponectin is a member of adipose tissue-secreted hormones, so-called adipokines, and has wide implications in glucose and lipid metabolism. It is also found in liver tissue and in NAFLD/NASH it provides protective features on liver tissue like antiinflammatory and antifibrotic effects. There are two specific receptors for adiponectin: AdipoR1 with abundant expression and AdipoR2 with expression especially on hepatocytes. Yet, little is known about the role of adiponectin in chronic HCV-infection. Recently, genetic studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the adiponectin gene, e.g. +276G>T, have shown that genetic polymorphisms are implicated in altered protein function.