LEP and type 2 diabetes mellitus: Previous studies have implied different mechanisms involved in fat and glucose metabolism in populations of different ethnic backgrounds, such as differences across ethnicities in levels of adiponectin, leptin and fibroblast-growth factor (FGF) [15] playing mediating roles in the relationship between adiposity and insulin resistance [16], and subsequent progression to hyperglycaemia and type 2 diabetes [17, 18].