Perivascular adipose tissue and vascular inflammation: from biological insights to clinical implications

TL;DR

This paper reviews how perivascular adipose tissue influences vascular inflammation and cardiovascular disease, highlighting new biological insights and diagnostic approaches.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of PVAT's role in vascular inflammation and its clinical implications, emphasizing recent advances in imaging and biological mechanisms.

Findings

PVAT modulates vascular function through paracrine and metabolic activities.

PVAT remodeling is linked to vascular inflammation and cardiovascular diseases.

Noninvasive imaging techniques now allow evaluation of PVAT characteristics.

Abstract

Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) has emerged as an active paracrine and metabolic organ that modulates vascular function in both humans and rodents, rather than serving merely as structural support. Vascular inflammation is a central mechanism driving cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, representing a maladaptive response to vascular injury. Recent evidence indicates that PVAT actively participates in this process through dynamic phenotypic changes, including adipose tissue browning or beiging. Furthermore, advances in imaging have enabled the noninvasive evaluation of vascular inflammation using computed tomography–derived indices that reflect PVAT characteristics. This review summarizes current understanding of the interplay between PVAT and vascular inflammation, highlights the biological and clinical implications of PVAT remodeling, and discusses emerging diagnostic approaches and future research directions.

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