The present disclosure describes to a method of treating a metabolic disease in a subject, wherein the method comprises administration of dermatopontin to a subject, wherein the dermatopontin is recombinant dermatopontin and the metabolic disease is selected from a group consisting of weight gain, diet-induced weight gain, obesity, morbid obesity, metabolic syndrome, glucose homeostasis, insulin resistance, type I diabetes, type if diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Disclosed herein is also a method of determining or making a prognosis of a subjects susceptibility to metabolic diseases and obesity, the method comprising measuring the level of circulating dermatopontin in a sample obtained from a subject and comparing the level of circulating dermatopontin obtained with the level of dermatopontin previously determined in a control and determining the susceptibility of the subject to metabolic disease and obesity based on the difference between the level of circulating dermatopontin and the level of dermatopontin in the control.
