It has been well documented that atherogenic factors such as obesity could upregulate the expression of mineralocorticoid receptors in PVAT, and the upregulation of mineralocorticoid receptors enhances the generation of PVAT-derived ROS by activating NADPH oxidase, enhancing eNOS uncoupling and inducing mitochondrial dysfunction (Hashikabe et al., 2006; Leopold et al., 2007; Calhoun and Sharma, 2010). This evidence concerns the gene NR3C2 and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.