The finding that overweight status was associated with levels of adiponectin, leptin, CRP and IL-6 is consistent with many previous studies showing that excess body fat in adulthood is associated cross-sectionally with adverse levels of these adipokines12, 13, 20 and inflammatory markers.15, 18 However, the current analyses extend earlier reports by including a wider range of adiposopathic markers, including markers of endothelial dysfunction. The gene discussed is ADIPOQ; the disease is endothelial dysfunction.