Review Article: An Adipocentric View of the Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Disease

Dysfunctional adipose tissue impairs whole body lipid buffering, influencing the storage of lipids as well as their use as an energy source. Ectopic deposition of lipids within metabolic tissues arises as a result of adipose tissue dysfunction and the ensuing systemic lipotoxicity explains much of the pathogenesis underlying insulin resistance and cardiometabolic disease. Adipose tissue dysfunction appears to be a multifactorial, maladaptive response to a lipid-rich, high calorie diet which involves the interplay between adipocyte precursors, adipocytes, immune cells, lipoprotein carriers and metabolically active tissues. Understanding these interactions and unravelling the adipocentric nature of cardiometabolic complications relating to obesity is a major priority towards addressing the worldwide obesity pandemic and its costly complications.