| Abstract: |
Visceral fat accumulation, a key feature of the metabolic syndrome,is associated with the development of diabetes mellitus, athree-fold increased risk of developing coronary heart disease (Isomaa et al., 2001), a two to three times increase in cardiovascular mortality (Malik et al., 2004)and worse clinical outcome following an acute myocardial infarction or a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (Celik et al.,2006).Although formerly regarded as purely an energy storage site, the emerging studies suggest that adipose tissue is an active endocrine organ producing ‘adipocytokines’, hormones that influence a diverse array of processes including appetite and energy balance, immunity, insulin sensitivity, angiogenesis, blood pressure, lipid metabolism and haemostasis , all factors that can impact cardiovascular disease (Matsuzawa Y, 2006).In this regard, the adipocytokines, adiponectin , leptin and apelin , have been linked to cardioprotection in recent experimental studies(Simpkin et al.,2007)..
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