Endocrine Abstracts

Adrenomedullin is a vasoactive peptide originally discovered in extracts of human pheochromocytoma. It is highly expressed in plasma and adipose tissue of obese subjects and considered as a member of the adipokine family. Adrenomedullin inhibits adipogenesis under the transcriptional control of insulin. We determined plasma adrenomedullin concentrations in a cohort of 360 healthy subjects and found a very significant positive correlation to body mass index (BMI). In parallel, ...

Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional glycoprotein implicated, among others, in bone metabolism, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It promotes inflammation and insulin resistance. Osteopontin is elevated in the plasma and adipose tissue of obese subjects and decreases upon diet induced weight loss. Here we investigated the effect of bariatric surgery on plasma OPN concentrations in morbidly obese patients. 40 obese patients aged 43.1±1.8 years were recruited ...