METABOLIC SYNDROME: MOLECULAR BASIS AND REASONS FOR INTERACTION WITH OBESITY

Abstract

When Gerald Reaven, in late 1980’s, introduced the term metabolic syndrome (MS), it soon became a theme of great scientific debate. Genetic background, onadequate diet and sedentary lifestile contribute to MS outcome, whose overall prevention is now believed to be a world wide challenge. Although MS pathogenesis is not completely clarified, its various components are thought to be associated to insulin resistence. Maybe in MS there is interation among genetic, metabolic and environmental features, including diet. Diet role on the development of MS is not yet fully established on a precise or definitive way. Food and nutrition aspects in modern life, especially associated to questionable feeding behaviors and / or sedentary lifestyle, play significant role in obesity, representing a causality chain that is easily observed but hard to intervene. So this article aims at reviewing the state-of-the-art and circumstances that characterize MS, highlighting the knowledge on molecular events (genes and proteins) that regulate adipogenesis and help understand obesity as risk factor for MS.