Background: Chronic inflammation may participate in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease and may be a common denominator that links obesity to these disease states.
Content: Epidemiologic studies have linked inflammatory biomarkers to incident diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk. Cellular and animal studies have provided support to the idea that inflammation mediates these disease processes, providing impetus to pharmacologically target these pathways for disease treatment and prevention. We review clinical strategies to target inflammation, with a focus on the antiinflammatory and antihyperglycemic effects of salicylates.
Summary: The evolving concept of diet-induced obesity driving insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease through immunologic processes provides new opportunities for the use of antiinflammatory strategies to correct the metabolic consequences of excess adiposity.