Oiling vascular growth: adipokines can induce (pathological) angiogenesis by using the VEGF/VEGFR system: EXPERTS' PERSPECTIVE

This editorial refers to an article by Adya et al . [9][1] published in Cardiovascular Research in 2008. It is accompanied by a retrospective editorial by authors of that original article, Adya et al . (doi:10.1093/cvr/cvs207), as part of this Spotlight on Landmark Papers in Cardiovascular Research Obesity is a major cardiovascular risk factor that has been associated with serious complications such as hypertension, dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance, diabetes, and the development of cardiovascular disease. Adipokines, bioactive peptides and cytokines produced by adipose tissue, play important roles in glucose and lipid metabolism, cell viability, energy homeostasis, immunity and—most importantly—in cardiovascular function. Interestingly, it was shown that the adipokine profiles of different adipose tissues are different and they are further modified depending on the pathological condition. To date, several adipokines have been identified and characterized, including adiponectin, leptin, chemerin, vaspin, and visfatin.Visfatin has been identified as a novel adipokine that is highly expressed in visceral fat. Visfatin is also known as pre-B-cell colony-enhancing factor [PBEF, a pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor that enhances the effects of interleukin (IL)-7 and stem cell factor on pre-B-cell colony formation] and as nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT; a nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, an enzyme involved in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide biosynthesis). Visfatin was shown to be increased in obese subjects and in patients with metabolic syndrome as well as in type 2 diabetics.1–5 It was also shown that visfatin regulates insulin secretion and insulin receptor signalling in the pancreas.6 Visfatin exerts a cardioprotective effect during myocardial infarction and it has been suggested to play a protective role in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.7,8 Visfatin exhibits direct cardioprotective effects in vivo in a murine ischaemia-reperfusion model, since the infarct size was reduced following treatment with a single intravenous dose of visfatin.8 Visfatin-induced myocardial protection was shown to be … [1]: #ref-9