Although abdominal obesity has been associated with coronary artery disease, little is known about the relationship between anthropometric measures of obesity, adipokines, and abdominal aortic aneurysm. Until recently, abdominal aortic aneurysm was associated with some but not all risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis. In this interesting paper, the authors explore the relationship of cardiovascular risk factors and waist/hip circumference to abdominal aortic aneurysm. The authors found a significant association between abdominal obesity and abdominal aortic aneurysm that appears to be independent of the related variation in glycemia. The investigators therefore focus on the potential role of a series of adipokines as mediators of this relationship, and it appears that the adipokine resistin could play an important role in abdominal aortic aneurysm. This study will spur further mechanistic investigations to better understand this phenomenon.
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