TNF and Insulin resistance: In 1993, TNF-α, an adipokine produced from WAT was identified by Hotamisligil et al as the likely cause of systemic insulin resistance in obese rats (Hotamisligil et al, 1993) and this was followed by the discovery of IL-1β and IL-6 as other WAT-derived adipokines shown to have roles in promoting inflammation in systemic organs (Ouchi et al, 2011).