Adiponectin and the cardiovascular system: from risk to disease.
Adiponectin is known to play a role in fatty acid and glucose metabolism through a change in insulin sensitivity and activation of fuel oxidation by AMP-activated protein kinase. Adiponectin can be considered an important factor able to modulate the adipovascular axis which, through genomic and environmental influences, affects the cardiovascular risk milieu, from the pre-metabolic syndrome-- through the metabolic syndrome--to the overt atherosclerotic process and its clinical manifestations. Hypoadiponectinaemia can be viewed as an early sign of a complex cardiovascular risk factor predisposing to the atherosclerosis process as well as a contributing factor accelerating the progress of the atherosclerotic plaque. In addition, adiponectin per se holds a protective role thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antiatherogenic properties. The early identification of patients "at cardiovascular risk" means in the current practice to search for indexes of metabolic derangements and pro-inflammatory status (adiponectin) from adolescence and childhood.
Tarquini
R
R
Internal Medicine Department, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. rtarquini@unifi.it
Lazzeri
C
C
Laffi
G
G
Gensini
G F
GF
D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate; D052242:Adiponectin / Q000502:physiology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012307:Risk Factors
D052242:Adiponectin; D005227:Fatty Acids; D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate; D005947:Glucose