Review Article The Prothrombotic Tendency inMetabolic Syndrome: Focus on the Potential Mechanisms Involved in Impaired Haemostasis and Fibrinolytic Balance

Copyright © 2012 Isabella Russo.is is an open access article distributed under theCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. e metabolic syndrome is a clinical disorder characterized by impairment of glucose metabolism, increased arterial blood pressure, and abdominal obesity. e presence of these clinical features exposes patients to a high risk of atherothrombotic cardiovascular events. e pathogenesis of atherothrombosis in the metabolic syndrome is multifactorial, requiring a close relationship among the main components of the metabolic syndrome, including insulin resistance, alterations of glycaemic and lipid pattern, haemodynamic impairment, and early appearance of endothelial dysfunction. Furthermore, haemostatic alterations involving coagulation balance, �brinolysis, and platelet function play a relevant role both in the progression of the arterial wall damage and in acute vascular events. e mechanisms linking abdominal obesity with prothrombotic changes in the metabolic syndrome have been identi�ed and partially elucidated on the basis of alterations of each haemostatic variable and de�ned through the evidence of peculiar dysfunctions in the endocrine activity of adipose tissue responsible of vascular impairment, prothrombotic tendency, and low-grade chronic in�ammation.is paper will focus on the direct role of adipose tissue on prothrombotic tendency in patients affected by metabolic syndrome, with adipocytes being able to produce and/or release cytokines and adipokines which deeply in�uence haemostatic/�brinolytic balance, platelet function, and proin�ammatory state