Leptin in Atherosclerosis: Focus on Macrophages, Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells.

Leptin in Atherosclerosis: Focus on Macrophages, Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells.

Raman P; Khanal S

International Journal Of Molecular Sciences

2021

2021-05-21

Increasing adipose tissue mass in obesity directly correlates with elevated circulating leptin levels. Leptin is an adipokine known to play a role in numerous biological processes including regulation of energy homeostasis, inflammation, vascular function and angiogenesis. While physiological concentrations of leptin may exhibit multiple beneficial effects, chronically elevated pathophysiological levels or hyperleptinemia, characteristic of obesity and diabetes, is a major risk factor for development of atherosclerosis. Hyperleptinemia results in a state of selective leptin resistance such that while beneficial metabolic effects of leptin are dampened, deleterious vascular effects of leptin are conserved attributing to vascular dysfunction. Leptin exerts potent proatherogenic effects on multiple vascular cell types including macrophages, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells; these effects are mediated via an interaction of leptin with the long form of leptin receptor, abundantly expressed in atherosclerotic plaques. This review provides a summary of recent in vivo and in vitro studies that highlight a role of leptin in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic complications associated with obesity and diabetes.

Humans; atherosclerosis; Animals; endothelial cells; macrophages; vascular smooth muscle cells; Leptin/metabolism; Atherosclerosis/metabolism; Diabetes Mellitus/metabolism; Endothelial Cells/metabolism; hyperleptinemia; Macrophages/metabolism; Myocytes Smooth Muscle/metabolism; Obesity/metabolism; ADIPOSE tissue physiology; LEPTIN; LEPTIN receptors; MACROPHAGES; MUSCLE cells; SMOOTH muscle

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journalArticle

11

22

1422-0067

NEOMED College of Medicine

Department of Integrative Medical Sciences

June 2021 List