Compared to congenic WT mice on high fat diet, KO mice, however, appeared increasingly metabolically strained: they had lower adiponectin levels -typical marker of insulin resistance [51], and elevated HbA1c (while non fasting blood glucose was normal, data not shown), showed significantly higher levels of IL-6, an adipocytokine typically elevated in obesity [52] and lipid peroxidation products (malondialdehyde) as well as significant elevations of NEFA, lipids and endotoxins (Table 1). Here, ADIPOQ is linked to obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.