Vascular effects of novel adipocytokines: focus on vascular contractility and inflammatory responses

Adipose tissue is now regarded as an active endocrine organ which can secrete various cytokines. Adipocyte-derived cytokines are termed adipocytokines (adipocytes+cytokine). Adipocytokines can affect vascular systems to prevent or exacerbate obesity-related vascular complications, including diabetes-related vascular dysfunction, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. However, their basic vascular functions remain to be fully determined. In this manuscript, I summarize our recent findings on the vascular effects of 5 newly identified adipocytokines (omentin, visfatin, nesfatin, vaspin, and chemerin), with a special focus on 1) vascular contractile reactivity, and 2) vascular inflammatory response/injury. These novel adipocytokines may be important future targets for the development of drugs and therapy for treating metabolic vascular disorders.