Human resistin promotes macrophage lipid accumulation

The gene encoding resistin/FIZZ3 (found in inflammatory zone 3), which is denoted by the gene symbol RETN in humans and Retn in mice, belongs to a new gene family of small cysteine-rich secretory proteins, called ‘resistin-like molecules’, originally discovered in a search for adipocytederived molecules linking obesity and insulin-resistant diabetes [1]. In rodents, resistin is derived largely from adipose tissue. Hyperresistinaemia impairs glucose tolerance and induces insulin resistance in mice; mice deficient in resistin (Retn [-/-]) [2], or expressing a dominant negative form of this molecule [3], are protected from obesity-associated insulin resistance.