Role of perivascular fat tissue in the development of cardiovascular diseases

Abnormal vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Adipocytes produce several paracrine bioactive substances that can affect VSMC growth and migration. Our study focused on the ability of epicardial adipocytes to produce bioactive substances together with studying of direct effect of these substances on the VSMC proliferation rate. The gene expression of human cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, RANTES and MCP-1) and adipokines (leptin and adiponectin) was measured in primary cell lines of epicardial and visceral adipocytes, both in undifferentiated and mature statuses. Moreover, adipokine production (IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, VEGF and adiponectin) in conditioned media obtained from above mentioned primary cell cultures of adipocytes was measured by a Luminex assay. The VSMC proliferation rate was measured after co-culturing with CM obtained from primary cell cultures of adipocytes. The epicardial preadipocytes showed an increased expression of IL-8 (3,25-fold, p<0,05) compared with visceral preadipocytes. The expression of the adiponectin in epicardial preadipocytes was markedly decreased in comparison of the expression in visceral preadipocytes (p< 0,0001). Moreover, the gene expression was dependent on the differentiation..