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Hindi Special Issue Article
The Vascular Protection by Adiponectin
| Jian Cui1, Qingguo Wang2 and Hanrui Zhang1* | |
| 1Cardiovascular Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA | |
| 2College of Basic Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China | |
| Corresponding Author : | Hanrui Zhang, MD, PhD Cardiovascular Institute Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Tel: 215-573-0244 Fax: 215-573-2094l E-mail: zhangha@mail.med.upenn.edu |
| Received August 02, 2012; Accepted October 23, 2012; Published October 26, 2012 | |
| Citation: Cui J, Wang Q, Zhang H (2012) The Vascular Protection by Adiponectin. J Obes Wt Loss Ther S3:001. doi:10.4172/2165-7904.S3-001 | |
| Copyright: © 2012 Cui J, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
Abstract
Adiponectin is an adipokine mainly produced by adipose tissue. Circulating levels of adiponectin are reduced in conditions that are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, leading to the growing research interests in the vascular protective activities of adiponectin. Adiponectin exerts multiple vascular protective effects through direct actions on endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, monocytes and macrophages, adventitial fibroblasts, and platelets. It also affects monocyte-endothelium and leukocyte-endothelium adhesion. In addition, adiponectin opposes the inflammatory, apoptotic, and atherogenic effects of other adipokines, e.g. tumor necrosis factor-alpha, resistin, and interleukin-18. Thus, it is plausible that adiponectin plays a beneficial role in the treatment and prevention of vascular dysfunction. Adiponectin and its signaling may serve as potential therapeutic targets in reducing the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases.
