Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Fat, obesity, and the endothelium Nora Yucel and Zolt Arany Endothelial cells line all blood vessels in vertebrates. These Endothelium and the physiology of fat intake cells contribute to whole-body nutrient distribution in a variety The endothelial response to food intake is carefully of ways, including regulation of local blood flow, regulation of regulated to meet the energetic demands of the digestive trans-endothelial nutrient transport, and paracrine effects. system, deliver necessary nutrients to tissues, and prevent Obesity elicits dramatic whole-body nutrient redistribution, in the accumulation of toxic metabolites. After food intake, particular of fat. We briefly review here recent progress on blood flow increases to digestive organs within 5 min [2,3], understanding endothelial fat transport; the impact of obesity and within 10–15 min insulin secretion increases capillary on the endothelium; and, conversely, how endothelial function blood flow [4]. This increase in blood flow, and conse- can modulate obesity. quently shear stress, results in vasodilation, which is regulated by increased levels of endothelial-specific nitric Address oxide (NO). Endothelial NO, first identified as Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States ‘endothelium derived relaxing factor’ [5,6], is synthesized by endothelial-specific nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and Corresponding author: Arany, Zolt (
[email protected]) signals to the surrounding smooth muscle cells to elicit relaxation. Vasodilatation increases blood flow and increases the surface-area available for nutrients to be Current Opinion in Physiology 2019, 12:44–50 transported in and out of the vasculature. This review comes from a themed issue on Obesity Dietary fats are first processed in the intestinal lumen by Edited by Rui-Ping Xiao lipases and bile acids secreted from the pancreas and liver, For a complete overview see the Issue respectively.