Adiponectin is a recently discovered hormone secreted by adipocytes that has been reported to enhance insulin sensitivity. Although insulin resistance and/or compensatory hyperinsulinemia are considered to be involved with hypertension in obese humans, the relationship between plasma adiponectin level and obesity-related hypertension has not been fully clarified. In this study, we investigated the effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), reported as an insulin sensitizer, on plasma adiponectin, plasma insulin, and blood pressure in Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats. During the onset of obesity, blood pressure increased in ME rats. The increase, however, was prevented by dietary CLA. After 8 weeks, accumulated plasma insulin and glucose were also attenuated by CLA feeding. Dietary CLA increased plasma adiponectin levels in ME rats and the increase was attributed to the enhanced mRNA expression in white adipose tissue. This study provides the first evidence that dietary CLA increases plasma adiponectin level through the enhancement of mRNA expression. We speculate that the increase alleviates hyperinsulinemia and prevents the onset of hypertension in CLA-fed ZDF rats. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.