A Growing Journey From Neurotrophins To Metabotrophins In Cardiometabolic Diseases

Abstract

Currently, obesity has been recognized as a prime risk in the development of car-diometabolic diseases (CMD) and neurodegenerative diseases (NDD). The patho-genesis and therapy of CMD are immensely complex at the cellular and molecular levels. This scenario raises the question of how such a complexity may be grappled in a more tangible manner. Since 2003, we have been thinking “what nobody has yet thought about that everybody sees”, namely, matabotrophic factors (MTF, metabotrophins). The latter include mainly (i) the neurotrophins nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and (ii) the adipomyo-kines adiponectin, irisin, BDNF, fibroblast growth factor-21 alike as adipose- and skeletal muscle-derived signaling proteins (these latter discussed in another review in the present volume of Adipobiology). Herein, we argue that obesity and related CMD and NDD, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, may be viewed as MTF-deficient diseases. Further studies on MTF signatures and ramifications in these diseases are required. These would provide greater insights on how we can make MTF work for the improvement of physiological and psychological quality of human life.