Metabolic diseases such as obesity confer an increased risk for developing cerebrovascular dysfunction. This thesis reveals that exposure to a high-calorie diet rapidly induces dynamic vascular remodelling in the mouse hypothalamus, a major control hub of autonomic function and whole-body homeostasis. This process was found to be crucially mediated by astrocytes, a cell-type in direct contact with brain vessels, and here shown to excessively release angiogenic factors in response to one particular signal of caloric excess - the adipose hormone leptin. Importantly, hypothalamic angiopathy was further shown to be paramount for the development of systemic hypertension in obesity.