Adipose tissue-derived autotaxin causes cardiomyopathy in obese mice

The prevalence of obesity is dramatic increased and strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. Adipokines, secreted from adipose tissues, are critical risk factors for the development of cardiomyopathy. Present study aimed to investigate the pathophysiological role of autotaxin in obesity-related cardiomyopathy. In high-fat diet-fed mice, autotaxin was mainly synthesized and secreted from adipocytes. The increased accumulation of cardiac autotaxin was positively associated with cardiac dysfunction in obese mice. Interestingly, specific blockage of adipose tissue autotaxin effectively protected against high-fat diet-induced cardiac structural disorders, left ventricular hypertrophy and dysfunction. Inhibition of autotaxin further improved high-fat diet-induced cardiac fibrosis and mitochondrial dysfunction, including improvement of mitochondrial structure, mass and activities. Our findings demonstrated intervention of adipose tissue biology could influence cardiac modification in obese mice, and adipocyte-derived autotaxin was a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for obesity-related cardiomyopathy.