Skip Navigation


Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on May 23, 2006
Rheumatology 2006 45(8):944-950; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kel157
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
45/8/944    most recent
kel157v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (24)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Otero, M.
Right arrow Articles by Gualillo, O.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Otero, M.
Right arrow Articles by Gualillo, O.
Related Collections
Right arrow Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Autoimmunity
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

REVIEW

Towards a pro-inflammatory and immunomodulatory emerging role of leptin

M. Otero1,*, R. Lago1, R. Gomez1, C. Dieguez2, F. Lago3, J. Gómez-Reino1 and O. Gualillo1

1 Santiago University Clinical Hospital, Research Laboratory 4 (NEIRID LAB, Laboratory of Neuro Endocrine Interactions in Rheumatology and Inflammatory Diseases), Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2 University of Santiago de Compostela, Department of Physiology, Santiago de Compostela, Spain and 3 Santiago University Clinical Hospital, Research Laboratory 1 (Molecular and Cellular Cardiology), Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Correspondence to: Oreste Gualillo, PhD PharmD, Santiago University Clinical Hospital, Research Laboratory 4 NEIRID LAB, Research Area, Travesía Choupana sin numero, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain. E-mail: gualillo{at}usc.es

Leptin is a 16 kDa adipocyte-secreted hormone that regulates weight centrally and links nutritional status with neuroendocrine and immune function. Since its cloning in 1994, leptin's role in regulating immune and inflammatory response has become increasingly evident. Actually, the increase of leptin production that occurs during infection and inflammation strongly suggests that leptin is a part of the cytokines loop which governs the inflammatory-immune response and the host defence mechanism. Indeed, leptin stimulates the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from cultured monocytes and enhances the production of Th1 type cytokines from stimulated lymphocytes. Several studies have implicated leptin in the pathogenesis of autoimmune inflammatory conditions such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic bowel disease. Obesity is characterized by elevated circulating leptin levels which might contribute significantly to the so called low-grade systemic inflammation, making obese individuals more susceptible to the increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes or inflammatory articular degenerative disease such as osteorathritis (OA). As a matter of fact, a key role for leptin in OA has been recently demonstrated since leptin exhibits, in synergy with other pro-inflammatory cytokines, a detrimental effect on articular cartilage cells by promoting nitric oxide synthesis. This review will focus prevalently on the complex relationships existing among leptin, inflammatory response and immunity, trying to provide surprising insights into leptin's role and to discuss challenges and prospects for the future.

*Present address: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, New England Baptist Bone & Joint Institute, Harvard Institutes of Medicine, Boston MA, USA.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur J EndocrinolHome page
T Lappalainen, M Kolehmainen, U Schwab, L Pulkkinen, D E Laaksonen, R Rauramaa, M Uusitupa, and H Gylling
Serum concentrations and expressions of serum amyloid A and leptin in adipose tissue are interrelated: the Genobin Study
Eur. J. Endocrinol., March 1, 2008; 158(3): 333 - 341.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.