Summary 　As population of the aged have been expanding rapidly worldwide, it has become increasingly important to identify factors that offer the means to promote healthy ageing. It is well documented that advancing age is associated with increased body fat and blunted insulin action. Centenarians, who are the best model of successful aging, are a unique exception to this phenomenon. Increasing evidence has documented the preservation of insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis along with the very low prevalence of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease among centenarians. We demonstrated that centenarians has a high serum concentration of adiponectin, which was associated with a favorable metabolic phenotype, including higher levels of HDL-C and lipoprotein lipase, and lower levels of hemoglobin A1c, C-reactive protein and E-selectin concentrations. These observations suggested that high adiponectin concentration may be potentially important for maintaining health and function and could be a target for anti-aging medicine.