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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2004;24:7.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorials

From Fat Fighter to Risk Factor

The Zigzag Trek of Leptin

Nikos Werner; Georg Nickenig

From the Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Universitätskliniken des Saarlandes, Homburg, Germany.

Correspondence to Georg Nickenig, MD, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Innere Medizin III (Kardiologie/Angiologie), Universitätskliniken des Saarlandes, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany. E-mail nickenig@med-in.uni-sb.de

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Obesity is a major risk factor for a number of cardiovascular diseases, and causes cardiac and vascular disease through well-known mediators including arterial hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and type-2 diabetes. Obesity is characterized by an excess of adipose tissue, which efficiently stores energy for times of starvation. In addition, multiple reports in the last decade have underlined the importance of white adipose tissue (WAT) as an endocrine organ.¹ Several peptide hormones commonly referred to as adipokines are secreted by WAT, including leptin, adipsin, acylation-stimulating protein (ASP), angiotensinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), adiponectin, resistin, various cytokines including GM-CSF and G-CSF, and steroid hormones.¹ Consequently, WAT peptide hormones and cytokines are involved in energy homeostasis, glucose and lipid metabolism, immune response, reproduction, and vascular homeostasis.

See page 112

The exact molecular mechanisms of increased adipogenesis and its relation to the development of atherosclerotic lesions still remain unclear. One focus of research has been leptin, which was discovered in 1994 and is considered one of the important peripheral signals affecting food intake and body weight balance.² Leptin reduces appetite and can reduce obesity in leptin deficient (ob/ob) knock-out mice. However, the initial enthusiasm over the discovery of leptin and its potential as fat-fighter for the obese has been absorbed by the facts, which reveal that in obese humans leptin levels are increased and mutations of the leptin receptor gene are rare events. There is a strong correlation of plasma leptin concentrations in humans with total body fat mass and body mass index.^3,4 Leptin production is . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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