Epicardial adipose tissue is a unique fat depot around the heart that shares a close anatomic proximity and vascular supply with the myocardium and coronary arteries. Its accumulation around the heart, measured using various imaging modalities, has been associated with the onset and progression of coronary artery disease in humans. Epicardial adipose tissue is also the only fat depot around the heart that is known to express uncoupling protein 1 at both mRNA and protein levels in the detectable range. Recent advances have further indicated that human epicardial fat exhibits beige fat-like features. Here we provide an overview of the physiological and pathophysiological relevance of human epicardial fat, and further discuss whether its thermogenic properties can serve as a target for the therapeutic management of coronary heart disease in humans.

心外膜脂肪组织是心脏周围独特的脂肪储库，与心肌和冠状动脉有着紧密的解剖学接近性和血管供应。使用各种成像方式测量的其在心脏周围的蓄积与人类冠状动脉疾病的发作和发展有关。心外膜脂肪组织也是心脏周围唯一已知在可检测范围内以mRNA和蛋白水平表达解偶联蛋白1的脂肪储库。最近的进展进一步表明，人心外膜脂肪表现出米黄色的脂肪样特征。在这里，我们提供了人类心外膜脂肪的生理和病理生理相关性的概述，并进一步讨论了其热原性是否可以作为治疗人类冠心病的靶标。