Review on multifaceted involvement of perivascular adipose tissue in vascular pathology

Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is a fat tissue deposit that encircles the vasculature. PVAT is traditionally known to protect the vasculature from external stimuli that could cause biological stress. In addition to the protective role of PVAT, it secretes certain biologically active substances known as adipokines that induce paracrine effects on proximate blood vessels. These adipokines influence vascular tones. There are different types of PVAT and they are phenotypically and functionally distinct. These are the white and brown PVATs. Under certain conditions, white PVAT could undergo phenotypic switch to attain a brown PVAT-like phenotype. This type of PVAT is referred to as Beige PVAT. The morphology of adipose tissue is influenced by species, age, and sex. These factors play significant roles in adipose tissue mass, functionality, paracrine activity, and predisposition to vascular diseases. The difficulty that is currently experienced in extrapolating animal models to human physiology could be traceable to these factors. Up till now, the involvement of PVAT in the development of vascular pathology is still not well understood. Brown and white PVAT contribute differently to vascular pathology. Thus, the PVAT could be a therapeutic target in curbing certain vascular diseases. In this review, knowledge would be updated on the multifaceted involvement of PVAT in vascular pathology and also explore its vascular therapeutic potential.