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Review
. 2021 Jan 20;10(3):385.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10030385.

Hepatokines as a Molecular Transducer of Exercise

Dae Yun Seo  1 , Se Hwan Park  2 , Jubert Marquez  1 , Hyo-Bum Kwak  3 , Tae Nyun Kim  1 , Jun Hyun Bae  4 , Jin-Ho Koh  5 , Jin Han  1
Affiliations
Review

Hepatokines as a Molecular Transducer of Exercise

Dae Yun Seo et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Exercise has health benefits and prevents a range of chronic diseases caused by physiological and biological changes in the whole body. Generally, the metabolic regulation of skeletal muscle through exercise is known to have a protective effect on the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Besides this, the importance of the liver as an endocrine organ is a hot research topic. Hepatocytes also secrete many hepatokines in response to nutritional conditions and/or physical activity. In particular, certain hepatokines play a major role in the regulation of whole-body metabolic homeostasis. In this review, we summarize the recent research findings on the exercise-mediated regulation of hepatokines, including fibroblast growth factor 21, fetuin-A, angiopoietin-like protein 4, and follistatin. These hepatokines serve as molecular transducers of the metabolic benefits of physical activity in chronic metabolic diseases, including NAFLD, T2D, and CVDs, in various tissues.

Keywords: FGF21; angiopoietin-like protein 4; exercise; fetuin-A; follistatin; hepatokines.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Benefits of exercise-induced hepatokines: changes to the adipose tissue, vessel, and skeletal muscle.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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