LEP and heart failure: When considering all adipokines thus far identified, it is evident that leptin, initially identified as an adipocyte-derived satiety factor by Jeffrey Friedman’s group in 1994 through cloning of the ob/ob gene [39], represents the most widely studied of these proteins not only with respect to appetite regulation and effects on energy balance but also as a modulator of the cardiovascular system with respect to its influence on disease processes in general and myocardial hypertrophy and heart failure specifically.