Funahashi Tohru, Matsuzawa Yuji
Department of Internal Medicine and Molecular Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2,Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2006 Sep;8(5):433-8. doi: 10.1007/s11883-006-0042-8.
Adiponectin is a plasma protein derived from adipose tissue, which we discovered from a human adipose cDNA project. Adiponectin exists in circulating plasma at concentrations ranging from 4 to 30 microg/mL, which is much higher than the concentrations of various other hormones and cytokines. Adiponectin has a sticky nature, binding to collagen I, III, and V, which are present in vascular intima. Adiponectin exhibits various antiatherogenic effects on vascular cells, suppressing the expression of adhesion molecules in vascular endothelial cells, proliferation of smooth muscle cells, and cholesteryl-ester accumulation in macrophages. However, its plasma levels are low in subjects with excess intra-abdominal fat. Adiponectin also has antidiabetic properties, and plasma adiponectin levels correlate positively with insulin sensitivity. Several clinical studies have demonstrated that hypoadiponectinemia is a risk factor for new-onset diabetes. Recent studies suggest that hypoadiponectinemia may partly contribute to the development of salt-sensitive hypertension and hypertensive heart failure, and can be also a risk factor for overnutrition-related cancers such as breast, colon, uterine, and prostate cancers. Hypoadiponectinemia might be at least in part the molecular basis of various diseases associated with overnutrition.
脂联素是一种源自脂肪组织的血浆蛋白，我们从一个人类脂肪cDNA项目中发现了它。脂联素以4至30微克/毫升的浓度存在于循环血浆中，这一浓度远高于其他各种激素和细胞因子的浓度。脂联素具有黏性，能与血管内膜中存在的I型、III型和V型胶原蛋白结合。脂联素对血管细胞具有多种抗动脉粥样硬化作用，可抑制血管内皮细胞中黏附分子的表达、平滑肌细胞的增殖以及巨噬细胞中胆固醇酯的积累。然而，在腹部脂肪过多的受试者中，其血浆水平较低。脂联素还具有抗糖尿病特性，血浆脂联素水平与胰岛素敏感性呈正相关。多项临床研究表明，低脂联素血症是新发糖尿病的一个危险因素。最近的研究表明，低脂联素血症可能部分导致盐敏感性高血压和高血压性心力衰竭的发生，并且也可能是乳腺癌、结肠癌、子宫癌和前列腺癌等与营养过剩相关癌症的危险因素。低脂联素血症可能至少部分是与营养过剩相关的各种疾病的分子基础。
