LEP and metabolic syndrome: Nevertheless, our finding, confirmed by the use of different measures of body adiposity (MRI-derived total adipose tissue mass, bioelectrical impedance-derived percentage of body fat, and plasma leptin concentration), is in line with earlier studies showing positive associations of circulating PEDF with obesity in rodents [4] and humans [9], [19], [20], with human type 2 diabetes [6], [7] and the metabolic syndrome [8], [9].