IRS1 and Glucose intolerance: Interestingly, the suppression of visceral adiposity and inflammation in hemin-treated ZFs was accompanied by reduced insulin resistance and improved glucose intolerance, and the potentiation of important components of the insulin signal transduction pathway including IRS-1, PI3K, and GLUT4, which in addition to the hemin-dependent enhancement of adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory, insulin sensitizing, and cardioprotective protein [52, 53] may account for improved glucose metabolism in obese conditions.