Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0948265 (metabolic syndrome)
 24,271 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-alpha is a ligand-activated transcriptional factor that belongs to the family of nuclear receptors. PPAR-alpha regulates the expression of genes involved in fatty acid beta-oxidation and is a major regulator of energy homeostasis. Fibrates are PPAR-alpha agonists and have been used to treat dyslipidemia for several decades because of their triglyceride (TG) lowering and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) elevating effects. More recent research has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic actions of PPAR-alpha agonists in the vessel wall as well. Thus, PPAR-alpha agonists decrease the progression of atherosclerosis by modulating metabolic risk factors and by their anti-inflammatory actions on the level of the vascular wall. This is confirmed by several clinical studies, in which fibrates have shown to reduce atherosclerotic plaque formation and the event rate of coronary heart disease (CHD), especially in patients suffering from metabolic syndrome (MS). MS is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors that include obesity, raised blood pressure, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance or glucose intolerance, and a prothrombotic state, and its incidence in the Western world is rising to epidemic proportions. This review paper will focus on the functions of PPAR-alpha in fatty acid beta-oxidation, lipid metabolism, and vascular inflammation. Furthermore, PPAR-alpha genetics, the clinical use of PPAR-alpha activators and their future perspective will be discussed.
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PMID:Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-alpha: a pharmacological target with a promising future. 1549 75

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors. Three PPAR isoforms, designated PPARalpha, -beta/delta, and -gamma, have been identified and attracted enormous attention as a result of the key role that these receptors play in regulating adipogenesis, lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and BP. Growing evidence points to a causative relationship between PPAR activity and the metabolic syndrome, including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance or type 2 diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and albuminuria. Importantly, both PPAR-alpha activators, such as the fibric acid class of hypolipidemic drugs, and PPAR-gamma agonists, including antidiabetic thiazolidinediones, have been proved to be effective for improving diverse aspects of the metabolic syndrome. All three PPAR isoforms seem to play important roles in the development of diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes. Accumulating data suggesting that PPAR may serve as potential therapeutic targets for treating the metabolic syndrome and its related renal complications have begun to emerge. This article reviews the literature pertaining to the action, ligand selectivity, and physiologic role of PPAR. Particular emphasis is placed on their pathogenic roles in the metabolic syndrome and the therapeutic utility of PPAR modulators in the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.
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PMID:Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor family and its relationship to renal complications of the metabolic syndrome. 1550 33

Diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide, resulting from the interaction of obesity, inflammation, and hyperglycemia. Activated immunity and cytokine production lead to insulin resistance and other components of the metabolic syndrome, establishing the link between diabetes and atherosclerosis. Hyperglycemia-induced endothelial dysfunction is mediated by increased oxidative stress, a promoter of adventitial inflammation and vasa vasorum neovascularization in experimental models of diabetic atherosclerosis. Recent studies have documented increased inflammation, neovascularization, and intraplaque hemorrhage in human diabetic atherosclerosis. This inflammatory microangiopathic process is independently associated with plaque rupture, leading to coronary thrombosis. Tissue factor, the most potent trigger of the coagulation cascade, is increased in diabetic patients with poor glycemic control. Circulating tissue factor microparticles are also associated with apoptosis of plaque macrophages, closing the link among inflammation, plaque rupture, and blood thrombogenicity. High-density lipoproteins, responsible for free cholesterol removal, are reduced in patients with insulin resistance and diabetes. High-density lipoprotein therapy leads to a significant decrease in plaque macrophages and increase in smooth-muscle cells. These beneficial effects may be responsible for coronary plaque stabilization in patients treated with recombinant Apolipoprotein A-I Milano/phospholipid complex. Finally, peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are now considered the nuclear transcriptional regulators of atherosclerosis. Three subfamilies, including PPAR-alpha, -delta, and -gamma, have been identified with crucial roles in lipid metabolism, plaque inflammation, expression of adhesion molecules and cytokines, and regulation of matrix metalloproteinases. Multiple experimental studies have documented plaque stabilization with PPAR-gamma agonists, a group of medications holding great promise in the treatment of diabetes atherosclerosis.
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PMID:New aspects in the pathogenesis of diabetic atherothrombosis. 1560 89

The three peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) subtypes, PPAR-gamma, PPAR-alpha and PPAR-delta, are nuclear receptors that have been the focus of extensive research during the past decade. These receptors function as lipid sensors that coordinately regulate the expression of large gene arrays and, thereby, modulate important metabolic events. They are also the targets of drugs that are effective in the treatment of metabolic disorders (type 2 diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis) that afflict industrialized societies at epidemic levels. Ongoing research indicates that modulation of PPAR activity might be an effective therapy for additional maladies associated with the metabolic syndrome, including obesity. Novel PPAR ligands are now being developed that possess broader efficacies and improved tolerability compared with currently available therapeutic agents.
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PMID:PPARs: therapeutic targets for metabolic disease. 1586 Mar 71

Lipid abnormalities play an important part in raising the cardiovascular risk in diabetic subjects. The main components of diabetic dyslipidemia are increased plasma triglycerides, low concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, preponderance of small, dense low-density lipoprotein, and excessive postprandial lipemia. Small, dense low-density lipoprotein, the elevation in remnant triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles, and the low high-density lipoprotein are the most powerful atherogenic components. The coexistence of these three factors strongly aggravates the lipid accumulation in the arterial wall and the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. The position of diabetes in cardiovascular risk assessment has been recently reviewed in the Harmonized Clinical Guidelines on Prevention of Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease. In general, patients with diabetes carry a high risk for cardiovascular disease, but the absolute risk varies depending on the type of diabetes, age, and population baseline risk. The Adult Treatment Program III (ATP III) and the American Heart Association have designated diabetes as a high-risk condition and recommended intensive risk-factor management. Concerning therapeutic targets, both ATP III and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines have identified low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as the first priority of lipid lowering, and the optimal level was set at less than 2.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dL). There is strong evidence, coming from landmark secondary prevention studies, that LDL lowering in people with diabetes is associated with significant clinical benefits. The benefits of statin therapy in type 2 diabetics can no longer be questioned. Ongoing clinical trials will help clarify the question of whether increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with fibrates in the presence of low low-density lipoprotein levels (lower than 3.4 mmol/L, or 130 mg/dL) will be more beneficial than statin therapy alone. The new paradigms in risk-reduction therapies for type 2 diabetic subjects are focused on cardiovascular disease prevention, rather than only on glucose or lipid control. Therapeutic lifestyle changes are considered primary therapies for hyperglycemia and coexisting metabolic syndrome, which can be diagnosed in more than half of type 2 diabetes subjects. New perspectives of lipid management in type 2 diabetes should take into account that insulin resistance, increased lipolysis, and overproduction of large, buoyant, very low density lipoprotein particles are at the base of diabetic dyslipidemia. Accordingly, drugs acting in the regulatory steps of very low density lipoprotein assembly should be developed. Activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha), as occurs with fibrates, lowers free fatty acids (FFAs) and triglyceride levels. PPARgamma agonism, as demonstrated by the thiazolidinediones, increases triglyceride lipolysis, FFA transport, and conversion of FFAs to triglycerides. As separate activation of PPARalpha and PPARgamma improves lipid metabolism, the development of new drugs integrating PPARalpha and PPARgamma activity (PPAR-alpha/gamma agonists) is a promising line that may further improve insulin resistance, FFA metabolism, and consequently, atherogenic diabetic dyslipidemia.
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PMID:Statins and diabetes. 1586 14

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) belong to a subfamily of transcription nuclear factors. Three isoforms of PPARs have been identified: alpha, beta/delta and gamma, encoded by different genes and distributed in various tissues. They play important roles in metabolic processes like regulation of glucose and lipid redistribution. They also have anti-atherogenic, anti-inflammatory as well as anti-hypertensive functions. In hypertension-induced cardiac hypertrophy, both PPARa and PPARg activation reveal cardio-protective effect. Despite these beneficial functions, several recent experimental reports point to the possibille unfavorable effects of PPARs activation in lipid metabolism (lipotoxicity) in cardiomyocytes, which can lead to pathologic cardiac hypertrophy in such diseases as diabetes type 2, metabolic syndrome or obesity. This paper reviews evidences and hypotheses about the new pathophysiological aspects of PPARs activation.
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PMID:The selected pathophysiological aspects of PPARs activation. 1598 99

There are three peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) subtypes which are commonly designated PPAR alpha, PPAR gamma and PPAR beta/delta. PPAR alpha activation increases high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol synthesis, stimulates "reverse" cholesterol transport and reduces triglycerides. PPAR gamma activation results in insulin sensitization and antidiabetic action. Until recently, the biological role of PPAR beta/delta remained unclear. However, treatment of obese animals by specific PPAR delta agonists results in normalization of metabolic parameters and reduction of adiposity. Combined treatments with PPAR gamma and alpha agonists may potentially improve insulin resistance and alleviate atherogenic dyslipidemia, whereas PPAR delta properties may prevent the development of overweight which typically accompanies "pure" PPAR gamma ligands. The new generation of dual-action PPARs--the glitazars, which target PPAR-gamma and PPAR-alpha (like muraglitazar and tesaglitazar) are on deck in late-stage clinical trials and may be effective in reducing cardiovascular risk, but their long-term clinical effects are still unknown. A number of glitazars have presented problems at a late stage of clinical trials because of serious side-effects (including ragaglitazar and farglitazar). The old and well known lipid-lowering fibric acid derivative bezafibrate is the first clinically tested pan--(alpha, beta/delta, gamma) PPAR activator. It is the only pan-PPAR activator with more than a quarter of a century of therapeutic experience with a good safety profile. Therefore, bezafibrate could be considered (indeed, as a "post hoc" understanding) as an "archetype" of a clinically tested pan-PPAR ligand. Bezafibrate leads to considerable raising of HDL cholesterol and reduces triglycerides, improves insulin sensitivity and reduces blood glucose level, significantly lowering the incidence of cardiovascular events and new diabetes in patients with features of metabolic syndrome. Clinical evidences obtained from bezafibrate-based studies strongly support the concept of pan-PPAR therapeutic approach to conditions which comprise the metabolic syndrome. However, from a biochemical point of view, bezafibrate is a PPAR ligand with a relatively low potency. More powerful new compounds with pan-PPAR activity and proven long-term safety should be highly effective in a clinical setting of patients with coexisting relevant lipid and glucose metabolism disorders.
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PMID:Dual and pan-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) co-agonism: the bezafibrate lessons. 1616 52

Fibric acid is a synthetic ligand of the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-alpha that is highly expressed in skeletal muscle and heart, where it promotes beta-oxidation of fatty acids to mediate hypolipidemic actions. PPAR-alpha regulates expression of key proteins involved in atherogenesis, vascular inflammation, plaque instability, and thrombosis. Thus, PPAR-alpha may exert direct antiatherogenic actions in the vascular wall. Endothelial dysfunction associated with the metabolic syndrome and other insulin-resistant states is characterized by impaired insulin-stimulated nitric oxide production from the endothelium and decreased blood flow to skeletal muscle. Thus, improvement in insulin sensitivity leads to improved endothelial function. This may be an additional mechanism whereby fibrates decrease the incidence of coronary heart disease. Adiponectin is a protein secreted specifically by adipose cells that may couple regulation of insulin sensitivity with energy metabolism and serve to link obesity with insulin resistance. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms underlying the vascular and metabolic effects of fibrates that may act synergistically to prevent or regress atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
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PMID:Beneficial vascular and metabolic effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha activators. 1623 May 15

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors belonging to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. The 3 PPAR isotypes, PPAR-alpha, PPAR-gamma, and PPAR-delta, play a key role in the regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism. Obesity and the interrelated disorders of the metabolic syndrome have become a major worldwide health problem. In this review, we summarize the critical role of PPARs in regulating inflammation, lipoprotein metabolism, and glucose homeostasis and their potential implications for the treatment of obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Obesity, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, and atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes. 1655 57

Atherosclerosis is a long-term chronic inflammatory disease associated with increased concentrations of inflammatory hepatic markers, such as CRP and fibrinogen, and of peripheral origin, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-)-alpha is a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates expression of key genes involved in lipid homeostasis and modulates the inflammatory response both in the vascular wall and the liver. PPAR-alpha is activated by natural ligands, such as fatty acids, as well as the lipid-lowering fibrates. PPAR-alpha agonists impact on different steps of atherogenesis: (1) early markers of atherosclerosis, such as vascular wall reactivity, are improved, (2) however, reduced expression of adhesion molecules on the surface of endothelial cells, accompanied by decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6, leads to a decreased leukocyte recruitment into the arterial wall; (3) in later stages of the atherosclerotic process, PPAR-alpha agonists may promote plaque stabilization and reduce cardiovascular events, via effects on metalloproteinases, such as MMP9. Moreover, PPAR-alpha activation by fibrates also impairs proinflammatory cytokine-signaling pathways in the liver resulting in the modulation of the acute phase response reaction via mechanisms independent of changes in lipoprotein levels. Effective coronary artery disease (CAD) prevention requires the use of agents that act beyond low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-lowering. PPAR-alpha agonists appear to comprehensively address some of the abnormalities of the most common clinical phenotypes of the high CAD risk patient of the 21st century such as in the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes: low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high triglycerides, small, dense low-density lipoprotein, and a proinflammatory, procoagulant state.
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PMID:Modulation of hepatic inflammatory risk markers of cardiovascular diseases by PPAR-alpha activators: clinical and experimental evidence. 1642 52


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