心外膜脂肪组织与心血管疾病的研究进展

Research Advances of Epicardial Adipose Tissue and Cardiovascular Disease

心外膜脂肪组织(epicardial adipose tissue,EAT)是一种特殊的具有局部和全身效应的多功能脂肪组织,其解剖位置特殊,代谢和组织学特征明显区别于其他脂肪组织.在生理条件下,EAT具有产热和保护心脏的作用;而在病理状态下,EAT通过分泌多种促炎细胞因子/脂肪因子,参与心血管疾病(cardiovascular disease,CVD)的发生发展.EAT的厚度/体积及其引发的慢性炎症反应与CVD的严重程度呈显著正相关,运动、减轻体重和药物等均可恢复EAT对心血管的保护作用,提示其有望成为CVD诊断、治疗和预后评价的指标.本文通过对EAT的特征、功能、调节机制以及在血管损伤后重构、动脉粥样硬化、高血压病、心律失常、心功能不全等CVD中的作用做一综述,以期为CVD的防治提供新靶点.

Epicardial adipose tissue（EAT） is a unique fat depot which has multifaceted effect on local and systemic. EAT has a special anatomical location. The metabolic and histological features are distinguished from other fat depots. Under normal physiological conditions, EAT has thermogenic and mechanical characteristics,which is beneficial for the heart. Under pathological conditions, however, EAT secrete a variety of proinflammatory cytokinesis and adipokines involved in the pathological process of cardiovascular diseases.Thickness/volume and chronic inflammation of EAT was significantly positively correlated with the severity of cardiovascular disease. Exercise, weight loss and some drugs can restore the protective functions of EAT for cardiovascular system, suggesting that EAT maybe serve as a novel indicator for diagnosis, treatment and prognostic evaluation of cardiovascular disease. In this review, we summary the anatomy, function and regulation of EAT, and then discuss the potential roles of the EAT in cardiovascular diseases including vascular remodeling after injury, atherosclerosis, hypertension, arrhythmias and heart failure, which may provide new targets for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.