PPARβ/δ: Benefits in Coronary Artery Disease and Beyond

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors that participate in nutrient and energy metabolism. In a recent paper entitled “Nrf2, NF-κB and PPAR β/δ mRNA expression profile in patients with coronary artery disease” (CAD), Barbosa et al. found that PPARβ/δ was highest expressed in the CAD patients when compared to patients without CAD. Beyond its heart-protective effects associated to improvement of cardiac function and amelioration, the pathological progression of cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, cardiac oxidative damage, ischemia-reperfusion injury, lipotoxic cardiac disfunction and lipid-induced cardiac inflammation, others functions PPARβ/δ deserve be considered in the wide context of the cardiovascular disorders.

Obesity and dyslipidemia are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and, in this sense, the modulation of PPARβ/δ can be interesting because it is associated with the improvement of fatty acid (FA) catabolism in skeletal muscle or alternating fibre type muscle during oxidative metabolism.^, PPARβ/δ activation also reduces pre-adipocyte proliferation and differentiation, and attenuates angiotensin II-mediated dysfunctional hypertrophic adipogenesis and inhibits inflammation in adipose tissue. Besides that, in the intestine, PPARβ/δ can induce the production of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production and butyrate and propionate, two SCFA, were associated with reduction in food intake. Moreover, PPARβ/δ improves hepatic FA oxidation which decreases the lipids availability for triglycerides synthesis and changes the expression of several apoproteins, contributing for elevating plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein and decline levels of low-density lipoprotein.

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