[Hormones of adipose tissue (adipocytokines): ontogenetic and oncologic aspects].

Being an important component of body composition, adipose tissue accepts a lot of hormonal signals and, besides, is able to produce hormone-like peptides, named adipokines or adipocytokines, and participate in the metabolism of steroid hormones. Endocrine properties of adipose tissue are dependent of its volume, morphology (size and number of adipocytes), fat topography (visceral and subcutaneous fat), characteristics of distinct fat depot (including mammary fat), some features of genome, etc. Certain characteristics of the adipose organ are formed and then realized in pre- and postnatal life (pregnancy and fetal programming), in duration of puberty, after menopause and with aging. Adipocyte and non-adipocyte compartments of adipose tissue are involved into reactions of immunity/inflammation and into development of glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. The latter are peculiar for obesity and lipodystrophy, which in their turn are associated with a number of main chronic non-communicable diseases limiting the human life span. The balance among adipocytokines (adipocytokine net or lattice) with distinct properties (TNF-alpha, leptin and adiponectin as an examples) and between adipocytokines and steroid-producing capacity of adipose tissue is an important variable representing a basis for the modification of cardiovascular and oncological morbidity risk as well as a target for geroprotection and cancer prevention.