現己知非酒精性脂肪肝疾病(nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD)與肥胖、第二型糖尿病、胰島素抗性等病徵在流行病學上有極高相關性，且非酒精性脂肪肝疾病也被認為是代謝症候群的肝臟病理表現。最近的研究指出締脂素(adiponectin)除原本己知與胰島素抗性的產生有顯著關聯之外，締脂素在非酒精性肝疾病甚至是進一步演變成非酒精性肝炎的致病機轉上，也扮演重要的角色；因此我們相信若再進一步釐清締脂素與非酒精性脂肪肝炎產生之間的因果關係，在未來對非酒精性脂肪肝炎的預防和治療上將有很大的助益。

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with obesity, type Ⅱ diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance and is considered as hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. A strong association exists between adiponectin and metabolic syndrome. Besides insulin resistance, adiponectin is linked with pathobiology of NAFLD and also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We believed that in the future, adiponectin may have potential roles in the diagnosis, follow-up or treatment of NASH.