Background: The association of obesity with development of type 2 diabetes may bernpartly mediated by altered secretion of adipokines by adipose tissue. Greater adiposityrndown regulates secretion of adiponectin, an adipokine with anti-inflammatory and insulinrnsensitizing properties. The strength and consistency of the relation between plasmarnadiponectin and risk of type 2 diabetes is unclear.rnObjective: To review prospective studies of the involvement of adiponectin in typern2diabetes.rnMethods: A review search of the pub med, hinari and Google scholar search enginernusing different name of adiponectin and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This systemic reviewrnincluded prospective studies with plasma adiponectin levels as the exposure andrnincidence of type 2 diabetes.rnResults: Ten prospective studies with a total of 7018 participants and 1343 incidentrncases of type2 diabetes were included in the review. Higher adiponectin levels werernmonotonically associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. This inverse associationrnwas consistently observed in whites, Middle East Asians, East Asians, Asian Indians,rnAfrican Americans, Japan Americans and Native Americans and the inverse relationshipsrnare not differ by adiponectin assay, method of diabetes ascertainment, duration of follow-rnup.rnConclusion: Higher adiponectin levels are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetesrnacross diverse populations.rnKey words: adiponectin, adipose tissue, type 2 diabetes