Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Medicine, University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.
Cell Mol Immunol. 2011 May;8(3):203-12. doi: 10.1038/cmi.2010.75. Epub 2011 Mar 14.
Leptin is one of the most important hormones secreted by adipocytes, with a variety of physiological roles related to the control of metabolism and energy homeostasis. Since its discovery in 1994, leptin has attracted increasing interest in the scientific community for its pleiotropic actions. One of these functions is the relationship between nutritional status and immune competence. It structurally resembles proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and IL-12. The cytokine-like structural characteristic of leptin is implicative of its function in regulating immune responses. The role of leptin in regulating immune responses has been assessed in vitro as well as in clinical studies. It has been shown that disease conditions of reduced leptin production are associated with increased infection susceptibility. Conversely, immune-mediated disorders, such as autoimmune diseases, are associated with the increased secretion of leptin and the production of proinflammatory pathogenic cytokines. In this paper, we review the most recent advances of the role of leptin in immune-rheumatological diseases, and we discuss whether strategies aimed at modifying leptin levels could represent innovative and therapeutic tools for autoimmune disorders.
瘦素是脂肪细胞分泌的最重要的激素之一，具有多种与代谢控制和能量平衡相关的生理作用。自 1994 年发现以来，瘦素因其多效性作用而引起科学界越来越多的关注。其中一个功能是营养状况与免疫能力之间的关系。它在结构上类似于促炎细胞因子，如 IL-6 和 IL-12。瘦素的细胞因子样结构特征暗示了其在调节免疫反应中的功能。已经在体外和临床研究中评估了瘦素在调节免疫反应中的作用。已经表明，瘦素产生减少的疾病状态与感染易感性增加有关。相反，免疫介导的疾病，如自身免疫性疾病，与瘦素的分泌增加和促炎致病性细胞因子的产生有关。本文综述了瘦素在免疫风湿病学中的最新作用进展，并讨论了旨在改变瘦素水平的策略是否可以成为自身免疫性疾病的创新和治疗工具。
