OBJECTIVE

Epicardial and abdominal adipose tissues have recently been demonstrated to play inflammatory roles in coronary atherosclerosis. We sought to compare tissue adipocytokine levels of these two anatomically distinct adipose stores in patients with and without coronary artery diseases (CAD).

DESIGN

Samples of abdominal and epicardial fat tissues were harvested to detect the levels of adipocytokines and proinflammatory mediators.

SUBJECTS

Forty-six patients with CAD who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery and 12 non-CAD control subjects who underwent other types of open-heart surgery.

MEASUREMENTS

Tissue levels of adipocytokines (adiponectin, leptin and visfatin) and proinflammatory mediators (tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS

Tissue levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, leptin and visfatin were significantly higher in CAD patients relative to control subjects. In addition, significantly higher tissue levels of these four cytokines from abdominal fat depots were found compared to those from epicardial fat in CAD patients. Conversely, in comparison with control subjects, tissue levels of adiponectin were significantly reduced in CAD patients with a significantly lower tissue levels of abdominal than epicardial fat depots demonstrated.

CONCLUSION

Abdominal adiposity may play more significant role than epicardial fat in the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis.