Adipokines, inflammation, and atherosclerosis

Abstract

Obesity is the epidemic challenging our society from a medical as well as an economic perspective. The prevalence of obesity leading to decreased life expectancy due to, e.g., cardiovascular disease is dramatically escalating. In the UK, for instance, rates of obese (body-mass index ≥30 kg/m2) have increased by 30% in women, 40% in men, and 50% in children within the last decade resulting in 23% of adults being obese in 2007 and a prognosis of 50% for 2050 [1]. The causes underlying the obesity epidemic are still not entirely understood, but its consequences are already apparent, e.g. by the dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes (T2DM), a disease complicated by increased risk of macrovascular and microvascular disease, nowadays even occurring in children [2].