insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis (50). Conversely, hepatic triglycerides were elevated in high fat-fed CTRP3 knockout mice when compared to high fat-fed wild-type mice (71).Considered together, these data suggest that the metabolic effects of CTRP3 are specific to the liver, as no changes to metabolism were observed in skeletal muscle in any experimental (in vivo or in vitro) model examined. Interestingly, neither transgenic overexpression nor genetic deletion of CTRP3 resulted in a measurable metabolic effect in mice fed a low fat diet (50, 71), which indicates that CTRP3 may function specifically to help regulate metabolism in response to elevated lipid consumption.
