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  • Original Article
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Adipocyte-derived factors suppress heart contraction

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, pages 84–90 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

Obesity is strongly associated with cardiovascular diseases including systemic hypertension, coronary artery disease and heart failure. Despite several investigations the pathophysiological mechanisms involved remain unclear. We have previously shown that adipose tissue exerts a highly potent activity with an acute depressant effect on cardiomyocytes, thus suggesting direct involvement of adipose tissue in the development of heart dysfunction.

Objective and Design:

This study investigates the effects of adipocyte factors obtained from subcutaneous adipose tissue on the whole cardiac function by using isolated perfused rat hearts in a Langendorff mode. We recorded changes in coronary flow, developed isovolumetric left ventricular pressure, contraction rate and relaxation rate.

Results:

We observed a significant decrease in heart contractility parameters as well as in coronary flow within a few seconds of incubation with adipocyte factors. The cardiodepressant effects could not be blocked by the nonselective cyclooxygenase-inhibitor indomethacin. Human adipocytes release tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-1β into extracellular medium. These cytokines were tested for their potential effect but were, however, not responsible for the cardiodepressant effect observed.

Conclusion:

These data indicate that human adipocytes secrete factors with a strong acute depressant effect on cardiac force generation and coronary flow due to contraction of the coronary vessels, thus suggesting a direct role of adipose tissue in the pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the expert technical assistance of Uta Buro. We thank Dr M Weiße-Lögering, Pirna Hospital and her team for the help in obtaining human adipose tissue, and Kathleen Eisenhofer for proofreading this paper. This study was partly supported by the ‘Kompetenznetz Adipositas (Competence Network for Obesity)’ funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grant 01GI0833).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Medicine III, University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

    C Look, M Ehrhart-Bornstein, S R Bornstein & V Lamounier-Zepter

  2. Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany

    I Morano

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  1. C Look
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  2. I Morano
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  3. M Ehrhart-Bornstein
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Correspondence to V Lamounier-Zepter.

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Look, C., Morano, I., Ehrhart-Bornstein, M. et al. Adipocyte-derived factors suppress heart contraction. Int J Obes 35, 84–90 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.121

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