Adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity, diabetes, and vascular diseases

The classical perception of adipose tissue as a storage place of fatty acids has been replaced over the last years by the notion that adipose tissue has a central role in lipid and glucose metabolism and produces a large number of hormones and cytokines, e.g. tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, adiponectin, leptin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. The increased prevalence of excessive visceral obesity and obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors is closely associated with the rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This clustering of vascular risk factors in (visceral) obesity is often referred to as metabolic syndrome. The close relationship between an…