Table 3.

Adipokines with undefined roles in atherosclerosis

Adipokines	Major function	References
Adipsin	↑adipsin ∞ ↑ all-cause death and rehospitalization in CAD patients	[169]
	adipsin do not impact atherosclerosis in Ldlr-/- mice	[170]
IL-17	monocytes/chemokines/inflammatory cytokines produce ↑ monocyte chemotaxis ↑ macrophage differentiate↑ foam cell formation↓ immunization recruitment↑	[172–174]
	protective and regulatory role Inhibit pathogenic Th1 differentiate to Anti-inflammatory different gene backgrounds induce difference different atherosclerosis stage	[175–178]
Omentin	circulating and EAT-derived omentin level ↓ in patients with CAD ↓macrophage accumulation, foam cell formation and mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1); ↑anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype during macrophage phenotypic differentiation ↓lipid droplets and plasma total cholesterol levels ↓angiotensin II-induced VSMC migration and platelet-derived growth factor-BB-induced proliferation	[179, 180]
	an increased cardiovascular risk with high plasma omentin levels	[182]
BMPs	↑monocyte recruitment and chemoattraction through direct activation of BMPRII ↑endothelial inflammation and endothelial dysfunction ↑Hepatic Cholesterol Biosynthesis ↑vascular calcification	[183, 184]
	BMPRII knockdown ↑ endothelial inflammation, atherosclerosis	[185]
NAMPT	↑neutrophil infiltration; ↓collagen levels; ↑ MMP-9 content, CXCL1 levels, inflammation, macrophage number and apoptosis; ↓plasma HDL-C levels and cholesterol efflux ↑plaque area;	[186, 187]
	Ldlr−/− iNAMPThi ↓plaque burden; ↑ lesion stabilization; ↓macrophages to apoptosis	[188]
Vaspin	↓inflammatory phenotypes and foam cell formation; ↓migration and proliferation, ↑ collagen production Vaspin↑in macrophages/vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) within human coronary atheromatous plaques	[190]
	circulating vaspin and severity of AS: no association ↓vaspin serum concentrations ∞the recent presence of ischemic events in patients with carotid stenosis	[189]
	vaspin is linked to CV risk factors serum vaspin concentration is genetically modulated	[191]