Time course of adiponectin level in the explants incubation medium and serum.

<p>At the age of 5w, 6w and 7w, adiponectin level in the explants incubation medium (EIM) of the db/db mice was significantly lower than that of lean mice(P<0.01) (Fig. 8A), indicating that adiponectin production from the epididymal adipose tissue was decreased in db/db mice; Adiponectin in the serum was comparable between db/db mice and lean mice at each point (Fig. 8B).</p

Treatment with Rosiglitazone increased the serum resistin level of db/db mice.

<p>Db/db mice were treated with PBS (control) or Rosiglitazone (20 mg/kg/day) by daily intra-gastric gavage for 4 weeks. The db/db mice treated with Rosiglitazone (Rosi) had higher level of serum resistin <i>vs</i> control(*P<0.05).</p

Effects of Rosiglitazone on the protein production and gene expression of resistin in adipocytes differentiated from 3T3-L1.

<p>Fully differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes were cultured with or without Rosiglitazone (10 uM) for 48 h. The resistin in the conditioned medium was measured (Fig. 7A). Total RNA purified from these samples was subjected to quantitative PCR analysis to determine the mRNA levels of resistin. Data were normalized against 18 s ribosomal RNA. For comparison, the levels of the resistin without Rosiglitazone were arbitrarily set at 1(Fig. 7B). The results were repeated for three times and expressed as mean ±S. <i>vs</i> control, *p<0.05**p<0.01.</p

The resistin gene expression in the epididymal adipose tissue at the age of 5 weeks.

<p>Total RNA purified from these samples was subjected to quantitative PCR analysis to determine the mRNA levels of resistin. Data were normalized against 18s ribosomal RNA. For comparison, the gene expression levels in the lean control mice were arbitrarily set at 1. **p<0.01 <i>vs</i> lean control.</p

The time course of body weight (BW) and total adipose tissue (tAT) percentage of BW.

<p>At the age of 5 week, BW was comparable between db/db mice and lean control. Db/db mice older than 6W had higher BW than lean control (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0065543#pone-0065543-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1A</a>). At each time point, tAT(all AT from epididymal, perirenal and abodomal) percentage of body weight(BW) from db/db mice were significantly higher than lean control(<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0065543#pone-0065543-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1B</a>), indicating that fat tissue mass increased markedly in db/db mice from 5 weeks old.*P<0.01,compared with lean control at the same age.</p

Time course of resistin level in the explants incubation medium (EIM) and its relation to serum resistin level.

<p>At each time point, resistin production was decreased in db/db mice(<i>vs</i> lean control at the same age *P<0.05, **P<0.01, Fig. 4A); Fig. 4B showed the positive correlation between the resistin level in the explants incubation medium and the resistin level in the serum (r = 0.844 P = 0.000).</p