ABSTRACT
For long time adipose tissue was considered an inactive reserve depot of fat. It is now increasingly recognized that adipose tissue itself is active tissue, directly and actively involved in the control of body weight and energy balance via secretion of a large number of molecules with regulatory potential (adipokines), such as leptin, adiponectin, resistin, interleukin-6, (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). The identification of these secretory factors has increased insight into how an excess of body fat is related to metabolic disturbances, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease, an association that was earlier only understood in epidemiologic terms.1,2
Moreover, the production by the liver of C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase inflammatory protein, and fibrinogen, of which the levels are elevated in subjects with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, is triggered by various pro-inflammatory cytokines derived from numerous sources, such as macrophages, monocytes, and the adipose tissue. Several large population studies indicate that biomarkers of inflammation predict an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and that several aspects of cardiovascular disease can be viewed as having aspects of an inflammatory process.3-6
Adipose tissue is metabolically regulated by several genetic, hormonal, and nutritional factors.7
