Often the 276G > T SNP association with metabolic disorders is not related to differences in plasma adiponectin (Gable et al., 2006, Heid et al., 2006a, Heid et al., 2006b), suggesting that in some cases the effect of the genetic variant may be independent of the circulating levels of the protein, as proposed by Qi (Qi et al., 2005). The gene discussed is ADIPOQ; the disease is metabolic disease.