Otero Miguel, Lago Rocio, Gómez Rodolfo, Lago Francisca, Gómez-Reino Juan J, Gualillo Oreste
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, New England Baptist Bone & Joint Institute, Harvard Institutes of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Drug News Perspect. 2006 Jan-Feb;19(1):21-6. doi: 10.1358/dnp.2006.19.1.966243.
Initially described as a satiety factor with neuroendocrine properties, leptin has been shown to regulate immune and inflammatory processes. Mainly produced by white adipose tissue, this hormone was first known to regulate energy homeostasis by inhibiting food intake and by upregulating energy consumption. Leptin is a dual molecule: apart from its actions as a hormone involved in energy homeostasis, increasing evidence suggests that leptin is a novel proinflammatory adipocyte-derived factor that operates in the cytokine network by linking immune and inflammatory processes to the neuroendocrine system. In fact, recent findings have shown that leptin regulates and participates both in immune homeostasis and inflammatory processes not only by acting as a modulator of T-cell activity, but also by playing a key role in a host of autoimmune inflammatory conditions such as autoimmune encephalomyelitis, type 1 diabetes, bowel inflammation and articular degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. This review will more closely address leptin's cytokine properties rather than its role as a metabolic hormone by focusing on its biological actions in inflammatory processes, specifically those related to degenerative inflammatory diseases of the joints.
瘦素最初被描述为一种具有神经内分泌特性的饱腹感因子，现已证明它能调节免疫和炎症过程。这种激素主要由白色脂肪组织产生，最初人们知道它通过抑制食物摄入和上调能量消耗来调节能量平衡。瘦素是一种双重作用的分子：除了作为参与能量平衡的激素发挥作用外，越来越多的证据表明，瘦素是一种新型的促炎脂肪细胞衍生因子，它通过将免疫和炎症过程与神经内分泌系统联系起来，在细胞因子网络中发挥作用。事实上，最近的研究结果表明，瘦素不仅作为T细胞活性的调节剂参与免疫平衡和炎症过程的调节，而且在一系列自身免疫性炎症疾病（如自身免疫性脑脊髓炎、1型糖尿病、肠道炎症）以及关节退行性疾病（如骨关节炎和类风湿性关节炎）中发挥关键作用。本综述将更密切地探讨瘦素的细胞因子特性，而不是其作为代谢激素的作用，重点关注其在炎症过程中的生物学作用，特别是与关节退行性炎症疾病相关的作用。
