ADIPOQ and metabolic syndrome: Those meeting none, 1, 2 and 3 and more of the criteria for MetS had blood adiponectin levels of 12.1 ± 0.3, 11.5 ± 0.4, 10.2 ± 0.4 and 8.1 ± 0.4 μg/mL, respectively (mean ± SEM., p for trend = 0.030, Figure 1A), while they had about 19% higher levels of aldosterone (mean ± SEM: 691 ± 50 vs. 560 ± 11 pmol/L, p = 0.013 with unequal variances, Figure 1B).