In the last years, a growing interest has emerged toward understanding the role of adipocytokines in the development of cardio-metabolic complications. Five years ago, visfatin/PBEF/Nampt was identified as a novel adipocytokine. In the context of metabolic disorders, extracellular visfatin/PBEF/Nampt was initially claimed as a potentially beneficial molecule due to its insulin-mimetic and glucose-lowering properties. Nevertheless, growing evidence has since then unveiled that visfatin/PBEF/Nampt may rather be a biomarker of inflammation and endothelial damage, and also a direct regulator of the cardiovascular system that modulates cell proliferation and survival, extracellular matrix, vascular reactivity, and inflammation. On one side, the blockade of the deleterious cardiovascular actions of visfatin/PBEF/Nampt is being regarded as a potential approach to prevent and treat, not only cardio-metabolic complications, but also other pathologies implying excessive angiogenesis. Conversely, the administration of visfatin/PBEF/Nampt has shown beneficial effects in different ischemic conditions. Further research is required to evaluate the real value of visfatin/PBEF/Nampt as a pharmacological target. © 2010 Peiró, Romacho, Carraro and Sánchez-Ferrer.
CITATION STYLE
Peiró, C., Romacho, T., Carraro, R., & Sánchez-Ferrer, C. F. (2010). Visfatin/PBEF/Nampt: A new cardiovascular target? Frontiers in Pharmacology, 1 NOV. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2010.00135
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