Adipsin – summing up large-scale results: A review

Abstract

Adipsin is one of the first discovered adipokines hormones produced by adipose tissue. Adipsin performs the function of a regulator of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and participates in the adaptation of metabolism to the real needs of the body, being a powerful stimulant of anabolic processes. A characteristic feature of adipsin is that it is also a complement factor D, which is necessary for the normal functioning of an alternative pathway of activation of the complement system. Due to this, adipsin is represented in the body as a link between the energy block of the endocrine system and the humoral block of the immune system. Adipsin is known as a regulator of the function of pancreatic beta cells, a stimulator of lipogenesis, a modulator of inflammation processes. Recently, there have been works indicating the effect of adipsin on the microbiota, as well as its role in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. To date, there are a large number of publications describing the biochemical structure, functions of adipsin, mechanisms of regulation of its synthesis, as well as changes in the level of adipsin in various pathological conditions. Attempts are also described to pharmacologically influence adipsin in order to modulate its functions or use it as a biomarker for the diagnosis of diseases. However, there is currently no structured review that summarizes and systematizes all available information about this adipokine. This is exactly the task we set ourselves in this study. The paper contains the results of all available studies on adipsin. In some cases, they are contradictory in nature, which indicates the need for further research in detecting connections between the body's systems.