CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 32, No 4, July/August 2021
AFRICA
207
inhibitors.
23
This fact is illustrated by findings that elevated EAT
aromatase levels may delay or prevent the occurrence of various
cardiovascular diseases
.
In this study we found a significant negative correlation
between severity of coronary artery lesions and level of aromatase
protein in the CHD group. However, aromatase activity was not
evaluated in this study and the relationship between aromatase
protein level, aromatase activity and coronary artery disease
needs further study.
Conclusion
Our data show that reduced aromatase expression in EAT
correlated with coronary atherosclerotic lesions. Decreased
EAT aromatase protein levels may aggravate the severity of
atherosclerosis. Future studies should evaluate the mechanisms
regulating aromatase transcription and translation in EAT.
References
1.
Kershaw EE, Flier JS. Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ.
J Clin
Endocrinol Metab
2004;
89
(6): 2548–2556.
2.
Crewe C, An YA, Scherer PE. The ominous triad of adipose tissue
dysfunction: inflammation, fibrosis, and impaired angiogenesis.
J Clin
Invest
2017;
127
(1): 74–82.
3.
Genazzani AR, Gambacciani M. Effect of climacteric transition and
hormone replacement therapy on body weight and body fat distribution.
Gynecol Endocrinol
2006;
22
(3): 145–150.
4.
Simpson ER, Davis SR. Minireview: aromatase and the regulation of
estrogen biosynthesis – some new perspectives.
Endocrinology
2001;
142
(11): 4589–4594.
5.
Longcope C, Baker R, Johnston CC Jr. Androgen and estrogen metabo-
lism: relationship to obesity.
Metab Clin Exp
1986;
35
(3): 235–237.
6.
Iorga A, Cunningham CM, Moazeni S, Ruffenach G, Umar S, Eghbali
M. The protective role of estrogen and estrogen receptors in cardiovas-
cular disease and the controversial use of estrogen therapy.
Biol Sex Diff
2017;
8
(1): 33.
7.
Antonopoulos AS, Antoniades C. The role of epicardial adipose tissue
in cardiac biology: classic concepts and emerging roles.
J Physiol
2017;
595
(12): 3907–3917.
8.
Iacobellis G, Corradi D, Sharma AM. Epicardial adipose tissue:
anatomic, biomolecular and clinical relationships with the heart.
Nature
Clin Prac Cardiovasc Med
2005;
2
(10): 536–543.
9.
Mazurek T, Zhang L, Zalewski A, Mannion JD, Diehl JT, Arafat H,
et
al
: Human epicardial adipose tissue is a source of inflammatory media-
tors.
Circulation
2003;
108
(20): 2460–2466.
10. Karastergiou K, Evans I, Ogston N, Miheisi N, Nair D, Kaski JC,
et
al
: Epicardial adipokines in obesity and coronary artery disease induce
atherogenic changes in monocytes and endothelial cells.
Arterioscler
Thromb Vasc Biol
2010;
30
(7): 1340–1346.
11. Oikonomou EK, Antoniades C. The role of adipose tissue in cardiovas-
cular health and disease.
Nature Rev Cardiol
2019;
16
(2): 83–99.
12. Madonna R, Massaro M, Scoditti E, Pescetelli I, De Caterina R. The
epicardial adipose tissue and the coronary arteries: dangerous liaisons.
Cardiovasc Res
2019;
115
(6): 1013–1025.
13. Corradi D, Maestri R, Callegari S, Pastori P, Goldoni M, Luong TV,
et al
. The ventricular epicardial fat is related to the myocardial mass
in normal, ischemic and hypertrophic hearts.
Cardiovasc Pathol
2004;
13
(6): 313–316.
14. Iacobellis G, Malavazos AE, Corsi MM. Epicardial fat: from the biomo-
lecular aspects to the clinical practice.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol
2011;
43
(12): 1651–1654.
15. Möhlenkamp S, Hort W, Ge J, Erbel R. Update on myocardial bridging.
Circulation
2002;
106
(20): 2616–2622.
16. Lloyd-Jones D, Adams R, Carnethon M, De Simone G, Ferguson TB,
Flegal K,
et al
: Heart disease and stroke statistics – 2009 update: a report
from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke
Statistics Subcommittee.
Circulation
2009;
119
(3): e21–181.
17. Blakemore J, Naftolin F. Aromatase: contributions to physiology and
disease in women and men.
Physiology (Bethesda)
2016;
31
(4): 258–269.
18. Hammes SR, Levin ER. Impact of estrogens in males and androgens in
females.
J Clin Invest
2019;
129
(5): 1818–1826.
19. Thyagarajan B, Brott M, Mink P, Folsom AR, Anderson KE, Oetting
WS, Gross M. CYP1B1 and CYP19 gene polymorphisms and breast
cancer incidence: no association in the ARIC study.
Cancer Lett
2004;
207
(2): 183–189.
20. Chen D, Zhao H, Coon JSt, Ono M, Pearson EK, Bulun SE. Weight
gain increases human aromatase expression in mammary gland.
Molec
Cell Endocrinol
2012;
355
(1): 114–120.
21. Simpson ER, Brown KA. Obesity and breast cancer: role of inflamma-
tion and aromatase.
J Molec Endocrinol
2013;
51
(3): T51–59.
22. Wang X, Simpson ER, Brown KA. Aromatase overexpression in
dysfunctional adipose tissue links obesity to postmenopausal breast
cancer.
J Steroid Biochem Molec Biol
2015;
153
: 35–44.
23. Rozner RN, Frishman WH. Cardiovascular effects of chemotherapy
used in the treatment of breast cancers.
Cardiol Rev
2019;
27
(2): 87–96.