ADIPOQ and metabolic syndrome: Indeed, in a mouse model, the offspring of mothers exposed to an HFD during pregnancy showed modifications in the methylation status of the adiponectin promoter region in the visceral fat, and changes in methylation in the leptin promoter region, suggesting that these epigenetic modifications may modulate adiponectin and leptin expression in the adipose tissue, potentially leading to a phenomenon similar to the metabolic syndrome [10,43].