OBJECTIVES The purpose of this report was to assess the link between macrophage polarization in epicardial adipose tissue and atherosclerosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). BACKGROUND Macrophage accumulation enhances chronic inflammation in adipose tissue, but macrophage phenotypic change in human epicardial adipose tissue and its role in atherogenesis are unknown. METHODS ...

The genomic CDKN2A/B locus, encoding p16INK4a among others, is linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a risk factor for both cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. p16INK4a is a cell cycle regulator and tumour suppressor. Whether it plays a role in adipose tissue formation is unknown. p16INK4a knock-down in 3T3/L1 preadipocytes or p16INK4a de...

BACKGROUND Increased epicardial adipose tissue thickness and plasma homocysteine levels are associated with Metabolic Syndrome (MS) and coronary artery disease. The majority of patients with MS have subclinical or manifest coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between MS and plasma homocysteine levels and epicardial adipose tissue thickness in subjects ...

INTRODUCTION We have recently shown that in high cholesterol-fed rabbits, the sensitivity of epicardial adipose tissue to changes in dietary fat is higher than that of subcutaneous adipose tissue. Although the effects of diabetes on epicardial adipose tissue thickness have been studied, the influence of diabetes on profile of epicardial free fatty acids (FFAs) has not been studied. The aim of t...

BACKGROUND Inflammatory mediators that originate in vascular and extravascular tissues promote coronary lesion formation. Adipose tissue may function as an endocrine organ that contributes to an inflammatory burden in patients at risk of cardiovascular complications. In this study, we sought to compare expression of inflammatory mediators in epicardial and subcutaneous adipose stores in patient...

The thickness of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has the potential to act as a novel indicator cardiac and visceral adiposity its function in myocardial infarction (MI) diagnosis therapy.

Critical illness induces among other events production of proinflammatory cytokines that in turn interfere with insulin signaling cascade and induce insulin resistance on a postreceptor level. Recently, local renin-angiotensin system of adipose tissue has been suggested as a possible contributor to the development of insulin resistance in patients with obesity. The aim of our study was to deter...

BACKGROUND Disorders of endocrine substances in epicardial adipose tissue are known causes of coronary artery disease (CAD). Adiponectin is associated with cardiovascular disease. However, expression of adiponectin in epicardial adipose tissue and its function in CAD pathogenesis is unclear. This study investigates adiponectin expression in epicardial adipose tissue in CAD patients. METHODS V...

BACKGROUND Determination of the impact of visceral obesity and epicardial adipose tissue thickness on stimulating growth factor levels during hospitalization for myocardial infarction is of potential importance for predicting outcomes and assessing the development of cardiofibrotic changes associated with maladaptive myocardial remodeling. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship...

Different visceral fat compartments have several systemic effects and may play a role in the development of both insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases. In the last couple of years special attention has been paid to the epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), which can be quantified by non-invasive cardiac imaging techniques. The epicardial fat is a unique fat compartment between the myocardiu...