ADIPOQ and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency: Our findings are in agreement with studies suggesting that; in the context of obesity; weight-loss-induced metabolic and hormonal improvements such as increases in adiponectin levels can come at the expense of increased metabolic efficiency and increased energy storage into (especially subcutaneous) fat cells (Kim et al., 2007; Lee and Shao, 2014; Stern et al., 2016).