ADIPOQ and systemic sclerosis: After 72-h stimulation of ADSC with SSc sera, the gene expression levels of the adipocytic markers PLIN1 (perilipin-1) and ADIPOQ (adiponectin) assessed by quantitative Real-Time PCR were significantly decreased compared with either cells in basal conditions or cells treated with healthy sera (p < 0.001 for both comparisons) (Figure 2).