title: PBEF/NAMPT/visfatin: a promising drug target for treating rheumatoid arthritis?
abstract: NAMPT, also known as pre-B-cell colony-enhancing factor and visfatin, has been proposed to be involved in preventing apoptosis in cancer cells and, as such, has received a great deal of attention in recent years and stimulated the development to specific inhibitors for treating cancer. The role of NAMPT inhibitors as potential therapeutic agents for other diseases has not been studied extensively. Here, we describe their applicability for treating rheumatoid arthritis. We summarize current knowledge of NAMPT expression in healthy and diseased tissues, thereafter, we focus on pathological mechanisms relevant to rheumatoid arthritis that involve the NAMPT pathway and review the current status of NAMPT inhibitors being evaluated in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infection & Immunity, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. nowellma@cf.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nowell
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Anwen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase