Adipose Tissue and Skeletal Muscle Plasticity in Obesity and Metabolic Disease

Obesity and lack of physical activity are two major factors contributing considerably to the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases so prevalent in contemporary human population. Adipose tissue and skeletal muscle are therefore the primary organs one would immediately suggest to target in an attempt to battle metabolic disease progression. Fine tuning of the physiological processes within the two organs have a large potential to modulate (i) energy balance, (ii) lipid storage-utilization efficiency as well as (iii) central and peripheral actions in the brain, gastrointestinal system or liver which are integrated by the endocrine activity of the two energy balance maintaining tissues.