Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Gene Expression in Epicardial Adipose Tissue is Related to Coronary Atherosclerosis Assessed by Computed Tomography.
AIMS
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α reportedly has key pro-inflammatory properties in both atherosclerosis and adipocytes. To further investigate the biologic impact of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) on coronary atherosclerosis, we evaluated the relationship between TNF-α gene expression in EAT and clinically-assessed coronary atherosclerosis on computed tomography (CT).


METHODS
We studied 47 patients before cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG], n=26; non-CABG, n=21), assessing visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area, EAT volume, coronary calcium score (CCS), and the presence of non- and/or partially-calcified coronary plaque (NCP) on CT angiography. EAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) samples were obtained during cardiac surgery. TNF-α mRNA in EAT was measured using quantitative real-time PCR, and normalized to that of SAT as control adipose tissue.


RESULTS
There was no difference in the TNF-α expression level between patients scheduled for CABG and non-CABG surgery (p=0.23), or among the subgroups based on CCS (p=0.68), while patients with NCP had the higher TNF-α expression level than those without NCP (median [interquartile range], 2.50 [1.01-5.53] versus. 1.03 [0.64-2.16], p=0.022). On multivariate analysis adjusted for age, sex, coronary risk factors, statin therapy, CABG versus non-CABG, VAT area, and EAT volume, the presence of NCP had close correlation with the elevated TNF-α expression level (β=0.79, p=0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
TNF-α expressed regionally in EAT may exert potent effects on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis, suggesting a contribution of EAT to coronary artery disease through behavior of molecule.
['Kitagawa|Toshiro|T|', 'Yamamoto|Hideya|H|', 'Hattori|Takuya|T|', 'Sentani|Kazuhiro|K|', 'Takahashi|Shinya|S|', 'Senoo|Atsuhiro|A|', 'Kubo|Yumiko|Y|', 'Yasui|Wataru|W|', 'Sueda|Taijiro|T|', 'Kihara|Yasuki|Y|']
D000273:Adipose Tissue D000368:Aged D000792:Angiography D050197:Atherosclerosis D017023:Coronary Angiography D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass D003324:Coronary Artery Disease D005260:Female D020869:Gene Expression Profiling D005786:Gene Expression Regulation D006801:Humans D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D015999:Multivariate Analysis D010496:Pericardium D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic D012307:Risk Factors D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
Tumor necrosis factor-α Epicardial adipose tissue Coronary atherosclerosis Computed tomography