Furthermore, in a model of obese rats with type 2 diabetes (Kishida et al., 2000; Lee et al., 2005), AQP7 mRNA expression in adipose tissue was upregulated, possibly contributing to an augmented glycerol input for hepatic gluconeogenesis and subsequent hyperglycemia (Rojek et al., 2008). Here, AQP7 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.