Department of Cardiovascular Science and Medicine, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. komuro-tky@umin.ac.jp
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are transcription factors belonging to the nuclear receptor superfamily. PPARs have three isoforms, alpha, beta (or delta) and gamma. It has been conceived that PPARgamma is expressed predominantly in adipose tissue and promotes adipocyte differentiation and glucose homeostasis. Recently, synthetic antidiabetic thiazolidinediones and natural prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)) metabolite, 15-deoxy-Delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J(2) (15d-PGJ(2)), have been identified as ligands for PPARgamma. Following demonstration that PPARgamma is present in a variety of cell types, further study of PPARgamma has been conducted. Although activation of PPARgamma appears to have beneficial effects on atherosclerosis and heart failure, it is still largely uncertain whether PPARgamma ligands prevent the development of cardiovascular diseases. Recent evidence suggests that some benefit from the antidiabetic agents known as thiazolidinediones may occur through PPARgamma-independent mechanisms. In this review, we report on the latest developments concerning the study of PPARs and summarize the roles of the PPARgamma-dependent pathway in cardiovascular diseases. (c) 2003 Prous Science. All rights reserved.