Influence of signaling factors and cytokines on the development of adipose tissue, obesity and diabetes

The process of energy consumption is ongoing, while energy recovery through food intake occurs only occasionally. Therefore, during evolution, it was necessary to form a system that would create energy reserves, and preserve them for periods between food intake-adipose tissue. The development of adipose tissue is affected by numerous signaling and hormonal factors, which in turn determine the distribution of adipose tissue into subcutaneous and visceral fat. Besides its indisputable role in energy homeostasis, adipose tissue is an important endocrine and paracrine organ that releases many hormones and cytokines, and crucially affectsall metabolic and immunological processes in the body. As such, primarily visceral adipose tissue synthesizes significant amounts of adipocytokines: leptin, adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor-(, interleukin-6 and many others. Fat can actually be a crucial alarm system that triggers innate immunity and acute phase inflammation. Chronic inflmmation is the hallmark of the metabolic syndrome, and inflammatory signals originate mainly from visceral adipose tissue. Therefore, excess adipose tissue can easily be linked to the emergence of numerous metabolic disorders and the development of diabetes, type 2 as well as type 1.