title: Physiological, pathological and potential therapeutic roles of adipokines.
abstract: Formerly regarded purely as passive energy storage, adipose tissue is now recognized as a vital endocrine organ. Adipocytes secrete diverse peptide hormones named adipokines, which act in a autocrine, paracrine or endocrine way to influence several biological functions. Adipokines comprise diverse bioactive substances, including cytokines, growth, and complement factors, which perform essential regulatory functions related to energy balance, satiety and immunity. Presently adipokines have been widely implicated in obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. In this article we aim to present a brief description of the roles and potential therapeutic modulation of adipokines, such as leptin, resistin, adiponectin, apelin, visfatin, FABP-4, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1).
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Inês
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Falcão-Pires
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castro-Chaves
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miranda-Silva
authors.forename: André P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lourenço
authors.forename: Adelino F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Leite-Moreira
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; D016207:Cytokines