It has been reported that increased epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), which shows similarities with intra-abdominal (visceral) adipose tissue, is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this paper was to identify proteins expressed and secreted by EAT in patients with CAD. This study showed an increased expression of secretory type II phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA) in EAT from patients with CAD and confirmed it at the gene and protein levels with an approach combining microarrays and bioinformatic sequence analysis tools. As sPLA2-IIA has been previously reported as an independent risk factor for CAD, these findings suggest that the secretory profile of EAT could be the link explaining its association with CAD.
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