Recent studies suggest that chronic inflammation of adipose tissues with macrophage infiltration and enhanced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines plays a significant role in the development of obesity-related metablic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes. It was demonstrated that adenovirus- mediated over-expression of adiponectin, an anti- inflammatory insulin-sensitizing adipokine with reduced expression in obesity, resulted in a marked down-regulation of several inflammation-related genes, including F4/80 and CD68 (macrophage markers), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP- 1), in the white AT of 12 weeks old db/db diabetic mice. It was hypothesized that the reduced expression of adiponectin might play an important role in initiating macrophage-adipocyte cross-talk which leads to obesity-related insulin resistance and diabetes. This study aimed at determining the time course and magnitude of macrophage infiltration and inflammatory activation in AT, in relation...