Brain inflammation plays a central role in numerous brain pathologies. Microglia and astrocytes are the main effector cells that become activated when an inflammatory process takes place within the central nervous system. α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is a neuropeptide with proven anti-inflammatory properties. It binds with highest affinity to the melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4R), whic...

Fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) act as intracellular shuttles for fatty acids as well as lipophilic xenobiotics to the nucleus, where these ligands are released to a group of nuclear receptors called the peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs). PPAR mediated gene activation is ultimately involved in maintenance of cellular homeostasis through the transcriptional regulation of me...

Incidence of dyslipidemia among people suffering from diabetes is shooting up each year around the globe. A novel target to control this disorder has agonistic activity on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)-α and PPAR-γ receptors simultaneously. While the α form has lipid lowering effects, γ leads to lowering in blood glucose. Saroglitazar (Lipaglyn), developed by Zydus Cadila, ...

Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear transcription factors, and play a central role in insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, and inflammation. PPAR -γ appears to improve glycaemic control by increasing peripheral insulin sensitivity and reducing hepatic glucose production, thereby helping to preserve betacell function. However,...

Cerebellar abnormalities in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have been linked to brain insulin resistance and oxidative stress. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists, which have insulin sensitizer and antioxidant effects, could potentially be used to treat neurodevelopmental abnormalities in FASD. Slice cultures generated with cerebella from control or ethanol-exposed...

Men are less prone to autoimmunity than women thanks to the anti-inflam-matory effect of male sex hormones. But how these androgens, such as testos-terone, exert this effect was a mystery. Dunn and colleagues now report on page 321 that a nuclear hormone receptor that gets boosted by testosterone switches off pro-inflammatory cytokine production in male CD4 + T cells. Androgens are known to shi...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are a group of nuclear receptors that function as transcription factors regulating the expression of numerous target genes. PPARs play an essential role in various physiological and pathological processes, especially in energy metabolism. It has long been known that metabolism and circadian clocks are tightly intertwined. However, the mechanis...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α/γ dual agonists have been developed to alleviate metabolic disorders and have the potential to be used as therapeutic agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In this study, we investigated the effects of a newly synthesized PPAR α/γ dual agonist, 2-[4-(5-chlorobenzo [d] thiazol-2-yl) phenoxy]-2-methylpropanoic acid (MHY908) on type 2 diab...

Ultraviolet B (UVB; 290~320nm) irradiation-induced lipid peroxidation induces inflammatory responses that lead to skin wrinkle formation and epidermal thickening. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α/γ dual agonists have the potential to be used as anti-wrinkle agents because they inhibit inflammatory response and lipid peroxidation. In this study, we evaluated the function of 2-...