title: Gut hormones and endothelial dysfunction in patients with obesity and diabetes.
abstract: Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths and its prevalence has doubled since 1980. At least 2.8 million adults, worldwide, die each year as a result of being overweight or obese. The deleterious effects of obesity are tightly related to diabetes, as they are often clinically present in combination to confer increased cardiovascular mortality. Thus, patients with diabetes and obesity are known to develop accelerated atherosclerosis characterized by a dysfunctional endothelium and decreased nitric oxide bioavailability. Recent clinical studies support, indeed, the use of incretin-based antidiabetic therapies for vascular protection. Thus, attention has been focusing on gut hormones and their role, not only in the regulation of appetite but also in vascular health. Intervention directed at modulating these molecules has the potential to decrease mortality of patients with diabetes and obesity. This review will cover part of the ongoing research to understand the role of gut hormones on endothelial function and vascular health.
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Medicine Department, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iantorno
authors.affiliation: MedStar Cardiovascular Research Network Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Campia
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Daniele
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro Magna Grecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nistico
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Forleo
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cardillo
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tesauro
mesh_terms: D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D054795:Incretins / Q000502:physiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D054795:Incretins; C505799:obestatin, human