Human Perivascular Adipose Tissue as a Regulator of the Vascular Microenvironment and Diseases of the Coronary Artery and Aorta.

Caitlin Stieber,Joshua Boucher,,Lucy Liaw,Kimberly Malka

doi:10.29245/2578-3025/2019/4.1174

Abstract

Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is an adipose depot that surrounds blood vessels in the human body and exerts local paracrine signaling. Under physiologically healthy conditions, PVAT has an anti-contractile effect on vessels, but in obesity this effect is lost. During metabolic disease, adiponectin secretion is dysregulated, influencing nitric oxide bioavailability and macrophage infiltration and inflammation, all of which mediate PVAT signaling. However, based on the location in the body, and the type of adipocyte present, PVAT has different relationships with risk factors for disease. Imaging studies in patients with cardiovascular disease have demonstrated important associations between PVAT structure and pathology, yet insight into molecular pathways regulating human PVAT function are still lacking. This review focuses on our current understanding of human PVAT and its secretory role in the vascular microenvironment. A current area of priority is defining molecular differences in the secretome between PVAT depots, as this could inform the treatment of diseases that occur in anatomically restricted locations. In addition, understanding progressive changes in PVAT structure and function during metabolic disease is required for effective targeted therapies.

Highlights

Blood vessel health is impacted by circulating and mechanical factors, which are integrated locally via distinct cellular interactions within the vascular microenvironment
Parallel studies in humans are challenging and lacking due to the highly invasive nature of Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) procurement 6,7. The purpose of this minireview is to summarize our knowledge of human aortic and pericoronary PVAT in healthy and disease states with a focus on paracrine secretion, and highlight imaging techniques that have allowed for less invasive analysis of human PVAT and correlations to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) that are impacted in these regions, including coronary atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysms
Using human PVATderived adipose progenitor cells, we recently showed that suppression of Rab27a decreased in vitro adipogenesis and lipid mobilization in monolayer cultured preadipocytes derived from human aortic PVAT

Summary

Introduction

Blood vessel health is impacted by circulating and mechanical factors, which are integrated locally via distinct cellular interactions within the vascular microenvironment. Human Perivascular Adipose Tissue as a Regulator of the Vascular Microenvironment and Diseases of the Coronary Artery and Aorta. Parallel studies in humans are challenging and lacking due to the highly invasive nature of PVAT procurement (e.g. located on ascending aorta, carotid arteries) 6,7 The purpose of this minireview is to summarize our knowledge of human aortic and pericoronary PVAT in healthy and disease states with a focus on paracrine secretion, and highlight imaging techniques that have allowed for less invasive analysis of human PVAT and correlations to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) that are impacted in these regions, including coronary atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysms. In terms of the abdominal compartment, multiple studies in mice have shown that PVAT contributes to abdominal aortic aneurysm, an abnormal breakdown of the vascular wall that increases the risk of rupture, by recruiting immune cells into the adventitia of the aorta[15,16]. Ongoing and future research with patients requires subclassification by specific vascular pathology, along with continued molecular characterization of anatomically distinct PVAT depots during disease progression

Imaging Methods to Evaluate Human PVAT

Conclusion