ADIPOQ and adiponectin deficiency: Furthermore, we observed a significant negative correlation between adiponectin plasma levels and some cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and clinical variables indicating previous cardiovascular morbidity such as previous TIA/Stroke and incident vascular morbidity such as neuropathy, microalbuminuria, and PAD and these findings further suggest a possible role of hypoadiponectinemia as a putative marker of cardiovascular morbidity both prevalent and incident.