OBJECTIVE Adiponectin is recognized as an antidiabetic, antiatherosclerotic, and anti-inflammatory protein derived from adipocytes. However, the role of adiponectin in cardiac fibrosis remains uncertain. We herein explore the effects of adiponectin on cardiac fibrosis induced by angiotensin II (Ang II). METHODS AND RESULTS Wild-type (WT), adiponectin knockout (Adipo-KO), and PPAR-alpha knocko...

Dear Editor, Acupuncture is a traditional strategy for the treatment of various diseases and pathological disorders. Recently, we read with great interest the excellent review by Martinez and Peplow, in which the authors demonstrated that acupuncture has the potential to improve insulin resistance and provide physiological benefits in diabetes mellitus (DM). We appreciate and totally agree with...

The microenvironment plays a vital role in both the maintenance of stem cells in their undifferentiated state (niche) and their differentiation after homing into new locations outside this niche. Contrary to conventional in-vitro culture practices, the in-vivo stem cell microenvironment is physiologically crowded. We demonstrate here that re-introducing macromolecular crowding (MMC) at biologic...

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) activation is key for ischemic postconditioning (IPo) to attenuate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI), but IPo loses cardioprotection in diabetes in which cardiac STAT3 activation is impaired and adiponectin (APN) reduced. We found that IPo increased postischemic cardiomyocyte-derived APN, activated mitochondrial STAT3 (mitoS...