ABSTRACT
Obesity is now a worldwide epidemic.1-3 The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States and other industrialized and developing countries is increasing exponentially.1-6 Approximately half a billion of the world’s population is now considered overweight (BMI 25-29 kg/m2) or obese (BMI >30 kg/m2) (Table 17.1).1-3,7,8 Genetic predisposition, inadequate energy expenditure, increased caloric intake, environmental and social factors, and sedentary lifestyle represent major contributors to obesity.1-10
Recent studies have shown that approximately a third of the variance in adult body weights is secondary to genetic inˆuences.11 Leptin, an adipocyte-and placenta-derived circulating protein, regulates, to some extent, the magnitude of fat stores in the body causing obesity.12 Gastrointestinal peptides, neurotransmitters, and adipose tissue may also have an etiologic role in obesity.13 Lowcaloric diets with or without exercise can help with temporary weight loss. Nevertheless, diet and exercise alone have not proven universally successful for long-term solutions in weight management. In addition, supplementation with drugs that suppress appetite, reduce food intake, increase energy expenditure, and/or inˆuence nutrient partitioning or metabolism has potential efcacy but is unfortunately accompanied by adverse side effects-including some life threatening one.14,15
The genesis and development of metabolic syndromes such as obesity is directly fed by angiogenesis. Angiogenesis, the growth or formation of new blood vessels by capillary sprouting from preexisting vessels, is critical to the expansion of adipose tissue. New blood vessels, by providing nutrients and oxygen deep into the adipose tissue, spur the development and maturation of adipocytes.16-19 These vessels also supply plasma which is enriched in growth factors and which helps
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 253 Adipokines, Adipokinomes, Inˆammation, and White Adipose Tissue ........................................254 Hypoxia, Cancer, and Angiogenesis .............................................................................................. 255 Role of Leptin, the Product of ob Gene, in Angiogenesis ............................................................. 255 Antiangiogenic Therapeutic Strategies to Regulate Obesity .........................................................256 VEGF Receptor Blockade as a Strategy to Limit Adipose Tissue Expansion ............................... 257 Redox Control of Angiogenesis: Oxidants as Inducers of Angiogenic Factors and Angiogenesis ......257 Antiangiogenic Function of Antioxidants ...................................................................................... 258 Antiangiogenic Antioxidant Nutrients ........................................................................................... 258 Obesity, Angiogenesis, and Cancer ................................................................................................ 259 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 259 References ......................................................................................................................................260
