Fig. 2: Mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of cardio-metabolic diseases which contribute to the onset and progression of AS.

The figure highlights five main etiologic domains which are extensively discussed in the text, including aging, dysglycemia, adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity, dyslipidemia and arterial hypertension. The main mechanisms involved in each etiologic domain are highlighted with the same color. Created in BioRender. Bello Chavolla, O. (2025) https://BioRender.com/p44w501. RAAS renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system VSMC vascular smooth cells AS arterial stiffness SBP systolic blood pressure DBP diastolic blood pressure.