Leptin: The Prototypic Adipocytokine and its Role in NAFLD

Title: Leptin: The Prototypic Adipocytokine and its Role in NAFLD

Volume: 16 Issue: 17

Author(s): Claudio Procaccini, Mario Galgani, Veronica De Rosa, Fortunata Carbone, Claudia La Rocca, Giusy Ranucci, Raffaele Iorio and Giuseppe Matarese

Affiliation:

Keywords: NAFLD, liver, adipocytokines, leptin, autoimmunity

Abstract: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome, whose pathogenesis begins with the accumulation of liver fat and is followed by the development of necro-inflammation and fibrosis. Recent evidence indicates that adipocytokines, polypeptides secreted by the adispose tissue, might play an important role in the pathogeneic process and progression of NAFLD. In this review, we explore the role of leptin, and in part of other adipocytokines, in the interference with hepatic injury associated with fatty infiltration, in the modulation of steatosis and fibrosis, in both experimental models of the disease and in the clinical practice. We also discuss the potential use of leptin as non-invasive marker for differentiating simple fatty liver from NAFLD, and the possible novel therapeutic strategies aimed at interfering with the leptin axis to dampen chronic liver inflammation and NAFLD.

Cite this article as:

Procaccini Claudio, Galgani Mario, De Rosa Veronica, Carbone Fortunata, La Rocca Claudia, Ranucci Giusy, Iorio Raffaele and Matarese Giuseppe, Leptin: The Prototypic Adipocytokine and its Role in NAFLD, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2010; 16 (17) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138161210791208884