Resistin led to insulin resistance through both 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent and AMPK-independent pathways in hepatocytes: resistin upregulated cytokine signalling 3 (SOCS-3) expression, and downregulated insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS-2) and Akt phosphorylation via an AMPK-independent mechanism. Here, RETN is linked to Insulin resistance.