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Figure 1 Antiatherogenic Effects of Adiponectin

Adiponectin has novel vascular actions to directly stimulate production of nitric oxide (NO) in endothelial cells using phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase-dependent pathways involving phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by adenosine-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) (7) and reduces expression of adhesion molecules and decreases cytokine production from macrophage by inhibiting nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-B) signaling through cyclic adenosine-monophosphate-dependent pathways (23,24). Modified from Koh KK, Han SH, Quon MJ. Inflammatory markers and the metabolic syndrome: insights from therapeutic interventions. J Am Coll Cardiol 2005;46:1978–85. IB = inhibitory kappa B.