Table 1. Adipokines in animal studies for non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease and diabetes.

Animal models/cell types	Adipokine	Effects of interventions	Reference
	Adiponectin	Treatment
ob/ob mice	Reduced expression in adipose tissue	• Alleviates hepatic steatosis by reducing hepatic fat content and ALT levels  • Reduces TNF‐α production	29
db/db mice		• Suppresses hepatic SREBP‐1 expression	41
db/db mice		• Alleviates hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, insulin resistance • Alleviates hepatic steatosis	32
	A‐FABP
Obese mice lacking A‐FABP		• A‐FABP deficiency protects against hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia; and reduces liver stearoyl‐CoA desaturase‐1, a rate‐limiting enzyme that promotes hepatic fat accumulation	64
Diet‐induced obese mice with NASH	Elevated hepatic expression in Kupffer cells	• A‐FABP inhibition alleviates hepatic steatohepatitis	67
ob/ob mice		• A‐FABP inhibition alleviates diabetes	75
	FGF21	Treatment
Diet‐induced obese mice		• Alleviates hepatic steatosis	83
Diet‐induced obese mice		• Reduces triglyceride levels  • Reverses fatty liver disease via the inhibition of SREBP‐1	84
ob/ob mice db/db mice		• Reduces blood glucose and triglyceride levels	81

A‐FABP, adipocyte‐fatty acid binding protein; ALT, alanine transaminase; FGF21, fibroblast growth factor‐21; NAFLD, non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease; NASH, non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis; SREBP‐1, sterol regulatory element‐binding protein; TNF‐α, tumor necrosis factor‐alpha.