Adipose tissue is now recognized to be an important endocrine organ, secreting a variety of adipokines that are involved in the regulation of energy metabolism, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. C-reactive protein (CRP) is considered as one of the most sensitive markers of inflammation. A number of studies have shown that elevation of CRP concentrations is an independent predictive parameter of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is also strongly associated with various components of the metabolic syndrome. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of CRP on adipokines genes expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that CRP inhibited adiponectin, leptin and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) genes expression and raised tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA levels in matured 31341 adipocytes in a dose and time-dependent manner. Pharmacological inhibition of phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase by wortmannin partially reversed the effects of CRP on adiponectin, TNF-alpha and leptin genes expression. These results collectively suggest that CRP regulates adiponectin, TNF-alpha, leptin, IL-6 and PPAR-gamma genes expression, and that might represent a mechanism by which CRP regulates insulin resistance, obesity and metabolic syndrome. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.