Altered protein expression of coronary perivascular adipose tissue in metabolic syndrome

Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is a depot of fat surrounding epicardial coronary arteries in the heart. Factors released from PVAT are known to participate in the regulation of vascular (patho) physiologic processes, however, the extent to which obesity/metabolic syndrome (MetS) alters global PVAT protein expression has not been investigated. Accordingly, LC‐MS/MS was performed to compare coronary PVAT protein expression from lean and MetS Ossabaw Swine. Swine were fed either a normal diet (11% kcal from fat) or an excess calorie atherogenic diet (43% calories from fat, 2% cholesterol, 20% kcal from fructose) for 3–6 months. The atherogenic diet elevated body mass, blood glucose, insulin, LDL‐HDL ratio and triglycerides. In total, 359 proteins were significantly upregulated in MetS PVAT. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) platform identified 25 of 204 mapped proteins to be involved in inflammatory disease signaling (apolipoprotein B, heat shock proteins 5 and 70, phospholipase A2) and 20 proteins involved in cellular assembly and organization (apolipoprotein C3, heat shock protein 60, transglutaminase 2). Energy production, cellular function and maintenance, and lipid metabolism signaling pathways were also upregulated in MetS PVAT. Our findings identify novel proteins and pathways in PVAT that could directly contribute to the development/progression of coronary atherogenesis in MetS.