L'adiponectina: un nuovo indicatore di rischio casrdiovascolare

Fat is now considered as a endocrine organ producing a lot of molecules with biological activity, called adipokines. Among these, adiponectin plays an important role due to its effects on glucose metabolism. Circulating levels lower than those of healthy control subjects have found to be associated to conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Administration of adiponectin has been shown to have beneficial effects in experimental animal models of diabetes, obesity and atherosclerosis. In humans, circulating levels can be raised by life style modification (weight loss or exercise training) or pharmacological treatments. This paper reports the main biological features of adiponectin as well as its possible role as diagnostic/prognostic marker in cardiovascular disease.