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Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐δ as emerging target in liver disease
Author(s) -
Schnabl Bernd
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
drug development research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1098-2299
pISSN - 0272-4391
DOI - 10.1002/ddr.20358
Subject(s) - cirrhosis , steatohepatitis , liver disease , liver transplantation , medicine , fibrosis , fatty liver , chronic liver disease , disease , bioinformatics , transplantation , biology
Liver fibrosis is characterized by an excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins that occurs in chronic liver disease of any origin, including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), alcohol abuse, and viral hepatitis. Cirrhosis occurs with the development of regenerating nodules of hepatocytes and is a major health burden worldwide. Patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis have a poor prognosis, with liver transplantation often being necessary. The current treatment paradigm for patients with hepatic fibrosis is to treat the underlying liver disease. However, if this cannot be achieved, there are currently no effective antifibrotic treatments for patients with chronic liver diseases. With the advent of basic molecular technology providing insight into the mechanisms of the development of hepatic fibrosis, there is now an opportunity to develop therapeutic interventions for human clinical use. In this review, the function of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐δ (PPAR δ) will be summarized with a special emphasis on ligand activation as potential use in liver disease. Drug Dev Res 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.