Role of the PPAR family of nuclear receptors in the regulation of metabolic and cardiovascular homeostasis: new approaches to therapy.

Several conditions and risk factors predispose to cardiovascular disease, including visceral obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia, and are collectively called the metabolic syndrome. Different pharmacological approaches are under development to address these risk factors and improve the cardiovascular risk profile. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that control lipid and glucose metabolism, as well as the inflammatory response. Thus PPARs appear good drug targets for the correction of the global risk profile that predisposes an individual to cardiovascular disease.