A research team led by Dr. Martin Mollenhauer from the Heart Center at University Hospital Cologne has investigated the link between obesity and the risk of cardiovascular disease in greater detail. The researchers have discovered that in obese patients and in mouse models, increased levels of the oxidative enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO) are associated with poorer vascular function.

The results of the research have been published under the title “Myeloperoxidase impacts vascular function by altering perivascular adipocytes’ secretome and phenotype in obesity” in Cell Reports Medicine.

In people suffering from obesity, MPO is active in a particular form of fatty tissue surrounding the aorta. This fatty tissue is called perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT). MPO promotes inflammatory processes in PVAT and at the same time inhibits protective mechanisms that normally keep the blood vessels elastic and healthy.