ADIPOQ and familial hypercholesterolemia: Similarly, the protective effect of adiponectin against atherosclerotic lesion formation was observed in gAd-TG/ApoE-KO mice (ApoE-KO mice, which lack apolipoprotein E, develop atherosclerotic lesions accompanied by hypercholesterolemia), characterized by the overexpression of globular adiponectin [72].