Research
Hormonal
Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and myocardial steatosis contribute to cardiac dysfunction and atrial fibrillation through lipotoxicity, involving the accumulation of diacylglycerols and ceramides.
Managing overall body fat and metabolic health helps reduce epicardial fat, which may lower the risk of heart rhythm issues and heart failure.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Especially DAGs promote insulin resistance (IR) by a protein kinase C-dependent IRS-1 inhibition and are associated with ROS production and nuclear factor-kB activation. Ceramides induce apoptosis via increased mitochondrial membrane permeability and electron transport alteration.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple imaging and spectroscopy studies cited in the review.
Source
Impact of different ectopic fat depots on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
Daniele Ferrara et al. · Journal of Cellular Physiology · 2019
DOI 10.1002/jcp.28821
narrative_reviewCited 184×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Ectopic fat accumulation in organs such as the heart, liver, and pancreas is a primary driver of cardiometabolic disease and insulin resistance, often posing a higher risk than classical metrics like BMI.Good
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and a cardiovascular risk factor, driven by lipotoxicity rather than triglycerides alone.Good
- Weight loss, particularly through bariatric surgery or lifestyle interventions, significantly reduces ectopic fat in the liver, pancreas, and heart, improving metabolic health.Good
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