Department of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Adv Clin Chem. 2012;56:175-95. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-394317-0.00010-8.
Fetuin was first isolated from bovine serum in 1944. It is now most commonly known as either fetuin-A or alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein (AHSG), the protein product of Ahsg gene. A prominent feature of this protein is the functional diversity exerted in human physiology and pathophysiology. Fetuin-A plays a role in bone metabolism, metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus (DM), and central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as ischemic stroke (IS) and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, emerging evidence suggests involvement of fetuin-A in the cardiovascular system. However, there are many discordant findings on the associations between fetuin-A and vascular diseases. In other words, it is unknown whether fetuin-A is an exacerbating or a protective factor in the cardiovascular system. One reason for the seemingly inconsistent behavior is the dual functionality of fetuin-A in vascular diseases where it can act as an atherogenic factor or as a vascular calcification inhibitor. In addition, the existence of confounding factors such as DM and renal dysfunction can veil the primary association between fetuin-A and clinical parameters. Considering these issues, we discuss the role of fetuin-A for atherosclerosis and vascular calcification in this review.
胎球蛋白于 1944 年首次从牛血清中分离出来。现在它通常被称为胎球蛋白-A 或α-2-HS-糖蛋白（AHSG），是 Ahsg 基因的蛋白产物。该蛋白的一个显著特征是在人体生理学和病理生理学中发挥的功能多样性。胎球蛋白-A 在骨骼代谢、代谢紊乱（如胰岛素抵抗和糖尿病）以及中枢神经系统（CNS）紊乱（如缺血性中风和神经退行性疾病）中发挥作用。此外，新出现的证据表明胎球蛋白-A 参与了心血管系统。然而，胎球蛋白-A 与血管疾病之间的关联存在许多不一致的发现。换句话说，尚不清楚胎球蛋白-A 是心血管系统中的加重因素还是保护因素。胎球蛋白-A 在血管疾病中具有双重功能，既可以作为动脉粥样硬化因子，也可以作为血管钙化抑制剂，这是其行为似乎不一致的原因之一。此外，糖尿病和肾功能不全等混杂因素的存在可能掩盖了胎球蛋白-A 与临床参数之间的主要关联。考虑到这些问题，我们在本综述中讨论了胎球蛋白-A 对动脉粥样硬化和血管钙化的作用。
