Abstract
Obesity is a chronic and multifactorial disorder that is reaching epidemic proportions. It is characterized by an enlarged mass of adipose tissue caused by a combination of size increase of preexisting adipocytes (hypertrophy) and de novo adipocyte differentiation (hyperplasia). Obesity is related to many metabolic disorders like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease, and it is associated with an increased risk of cancer development in different tissues including breast. Adipose tissue is now regarded as not just a storage reservoir for excess energy, but rather as an endocrine organ, secreting a large number of bioactive molecules called adipokines. Among these, adiponectin represents the most abundant adipose tissue-excreted protein, which exhibits insulin sensitizing, anti-inflammatory, and antiatherogenic properties. The serum concentrations of adiponectin are inversely correlated with body mass index. Recently, low levels of plasma adiponectin have been associated with an increased risk for obesity-related cancers and development of more aggressive phenotype, concomitantly with alterations in the bioavailability of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) signaling pathways. In this review, we discuss the cross-talk between adiponectin/AdipoR1 and IGF-I/IGF-IR in breast cancer.
Highlights
Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of female malignancy in the world
Insulin-like growth factors and IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) are involved in the metabolic cellular response to adiponectin in many cell types [63]
It has been widely demonstrated that IGF-IR increases growth and survival of neoplastic cells, altering the expression of specific genes regulated through the activation of Akt and MAPK pathways [92]
Summary
Obesity is a chronic and multifactorial disorder that is reaching epidemic proportions. It is characterized by an enlarged mass of adipose tissue caused by a combination of size increase of preexisting adipocytes (hypertrophy) and de novo adipocyte differentiation (hyperplasia). Obesity is related to many metabolic disorders like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease, and it is associated with an increased risk of cancer development in different tissues including breast. Adiponectin represents the most abundant adipose tissueexcreted protein, which exhibits insulin sensitizing, anti-inflammatory, and antiatherogenic properties. Low levels of plasma adiponectin have been associated with an increased risk for obesity-related cancers and development of more aggressive phenotype, concomitantly with alterations in the bioavailability of insulin-like growth factorI (IGF-I) and IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) signaling pathways.
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