Zhirovaya tkan' v nastoyashchee vremya rassmatrivaetsya kak endokrinnyy organ, kotoromu svoystvenny autokrinnye i parakrinnye svoystva. V zhirovoy tkani produtsiruyutsya adipokiny - gormonopodobnye veshchestva, vliyayushchie na razvitie mnogikh zabolevaniy, v chastnosti, ozhireniya, sakharnogo diabeta 2 tipa, serdechno-sosudistykh zabolevaniy. V monografii osvyashcheny voprosy rasprostranennosti sakharnogo diabeta i rannikh narusheniy uglevodnogo obmena, a takzhe epidemiologii ozhireniya. Rassmotreny otdel'nye adipokiny, ikh fiziologicheskaya rol' i vliyanie na razvitie uglevodnykh narusheniy, ateroskleroza, arterial'noy gipertenzii. Rabota prednaznachena dlya vrachey obshchey praktiki, endokrinologov, terapevtov, kardiologov, a takzhe dlya studentov meditsinskikh vuzov.