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Human visceral adipose tissue and the plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1

International Journal of Obesity volume 31, pages 1671–1679 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate the molecular basis of the association between visceral fat mass and plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels in man.

Design:

A comprehensive approach comprising observational, in vitro, and human intervention studies.

Measurements and results:

We confirmed an exclusive relationship between visceral fat and plasma PAI-1 levels (r=0.79, P<0.001) and corroborated preferential PAI-1 release from adipose tissue explants. Yet, messenger RNA analysis and in vivo measurement of PAI-1 release from visceral fat (AV-differences over the omentum) not only excluded visceral adipose tissue as a relevant source of circulating PAI-1, but also excluded visceral fat as a significant source of proinflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-1 or transforming growth factor-β that could induce PAI-1 expression in tissues other than visceral fat. Short-term interventions with acipimox and growth hormone (GH) as well as statistical evaluation excluded free fatty acids and GH as metabolic links. Further analysis of the metabolic data in a stepwise regression model indicated that plasma PAI-1 levels and visceral fat rather are co-correlates that both relate to impaired lipid handling.

Conclusion:

Our PAI-1 studies show that visceral fat mass and plasma PAI-1 levels are co-correlated rather than causatively related, with lipid load as common denominator.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Hans Romijn for his helpful comments during the preparation of the paper. This work was supported by The Netherlands Heart Foundation (NHS 1997-100).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Vascular Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    J H N Lindeman & J H van Bockel

  2. Department of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    H Pijl & M M Buijs

  3. TNO-Biomedical Research, Leiden, The Netherlands

    K Toet & T Kooistra

  4. Department of Medical Statistics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    P H C Eilers

  5. Sint Antonius Ziekenhuis, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands

    B van Ramshorst

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  1. J H N Lindeman
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Correspondence to J H N Lindeman.

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Lindeman, J., Pijl, H., Toet, K. et al. Human visceral adipose tissue and the plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1. Int J Obes 31, 1671–1679 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803650

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