Disturbances in adipocytokine profiles can contribute to peripheral insulin resistance and impairment of insulin production, which are 2 primary pathophysiological mechanisms involved in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Previous studies of disturbed adipocytokine profiles have resulted in ambiguous findings; therefore, we conducted the current study comparing leptin, resistin, and adiponectin concentrations in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM who had normal body mass index (BMI) and those who were obese.We studied a population-based cohort of healthy participants and those with newly diagnosed T2DM. A normal BMI group was randomly selected; age- and sex-matched obese participants were recruited. Circulating leptin, resistin, and adiponectin concentrations were measured and compared between groups using analysis of variance; binary logistic regression analysis was then performed to compare the normal BMI and obese groups.In total, 85 healthy participants and 38 patients with diabetes (19 with normal BMI and 17 who were obese) were enrolled. After adjustment for BMI and waist circumference, the median leptin concentration was higher in the obese group (6.77 (3.89-10.73) ng/mL) than in the normal BMI group (1.69 (0.80-3.89) ng/mL) (P = .007), whereas the median adiponectin concentration was lower in the obese group (1.03 (0.75-2.36) μg/mL vs 3.36 (0.59-7.63) μg/mL, P = .03). In addition, the adiponectin/leptin ratio was higher in the normal BMI group (145.6 (41.3-495.9) ng/mL) than in the obese group (20.55 (8.74-36.94) ng/mL, P = .002).Compared with the normal BMI T2DM group, the obese T2DM group exhibited a disturbed adipocytokine profile in the form of a significantly increased leptin concentration and reduced adiponectin level. Further studies are needed to determine the causal relationship for this difference and evaluate its importance for personalized diabetic treatment.