Leptin in Atherosclerosis: Focus on Macrophages, Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells
1
Integrative Medical Sciences, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH 44272, USA
2
School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44240, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Susan Kralisch
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(11), 5446; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22115446
Received: 15 April 2021
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Revised: 11 May 2021
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Accepted: 17 May 2021
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Published: 21 May 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leptin–Metabolic Programming and Its Endocrine Signals)
Increasing adipose tissue mass in obesity directly correlates with elevated circulating leptin levels. Leptin is an adipokine known to play a role in numerous biological processes including regulation of energy homeostasis, inflammation, vascular function and angiogenesis. While physiological concentrations of leptin may exhibit multiple beneficial effects, chronically elevated pathophysiological levels or hyperleptinemia, characteristic of obesity and diabetes, is a major risk factor for development of atherosclerosis. Hyperleptinemia results in a state of selective leptin resistance such that while beneficial metabolic effects of leptin are dampened, deleterious vascular effects of leptin are conserved attributing to vascular dysfunction. Leptin exerts potent proatherogenic effects on multiple vascular cell types including macrophages, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells; these effects are mediated via an interaction of leptin with the long form of leptin receptor, abundantly expressed in atherosclerotic plaques. This review provides a summary of recent in vivo and in vitro studies that highlight a role of leptin in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic complications associated with obesity and diabetes.
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Keywords:
hyperleptinemia; endothelial cells; vascular smooth muscle cells; macrophages; atherosclerosis
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MDPI and ACS Style
Raman, P.; Khanal, S. Leptin in Atherosclerosis: Focus on Macrophages, Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 5446. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22115446
AMA Style
Raman P, Khanal S. Leptin in Atherosclerosis: Focus on Macrophages, Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021; 22(11):5446. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22115446
Chicago/Turabian StyleRaman, Priya, and Saugat Khanal. 2021. "Leptin in Atherosclerosis: Focus on Macrophages, Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, no. 11: 5446. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22115446
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