From Adipokines to Atherosclerosis: The Role of Adipose Tissue in Inflammation and Etiology of Vascular Disease

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight and obese has steadily increased over the years among males and females of all ages, all racial and ethnic groups, and all educational levels. Recent studies have established adipose tissue as a dynamic, endocrine organ with the capacity to secrete a number of adipokines which may act directly upon the vasculature to stimulate adhesion molecule expression and exacerbate vascular disease. Our aim was to elucidate the associations of vasoactive pro- and anti- inflammatory factors, including adhesion molecules, with adiposity, blood pressure and endothelial function, and to distinguish race and sex variations in these relationships. To accomplish this, we expanded upon existing measurements within a Georgia Prevention Institute cross-sectional study entitled Lifestyle, Adiposity & Cardiovascular Health in Youths (LACHY) by adding two cardiovascular disease risk factor domains: inflammation and vascular adhesion. Our model included measurements of adiposity, adiponectin, C-reactive protein, leptin, insulin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, blood pressure and endothelial-dependent arterial dilation. Our findings include numerous race and sex differences in the concentration of circulating risk factors along with significant interactions between them and measurements of adiposity. However, we did not find circulating cardiovascular disease risk factors or their concentration differences to be significantly associated with blood pressure or endothelial function. We believe this to be largely due to the fact that our subjects were young and apparently healthy at time of measurement. Overall, our findings provide insight into the relationships between adiposity, inflammation and cardiovascular outcomes in black and white, male and female adolescents. Future studies are needed to further elucidate these relationships and how they may change over time.