Generic placeholder image

Current Clinical Pharmacology

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1574-8847
ISSN (Online): 2212-3938

Cardio-Hepatic Metabolic Derangements and Valproic Acid

Author(s): Gianluigi Mazzoccoli, Calogero Longhitano and Manlio Vinciguerra

Volume 9, Issue 2, 2014

Page: [165 - 170] Pages: 6

DOI: 10.2174/1574884708999140101144839

Price: $65

Abstract

Valproic acid (VPA) is an anti-epileptic and mood-stabilizing compound successfully used in the clinics since many decades. During the last few years, research on VPA revitalized. VPA has profound impact on nuclear chromatin structure in target cells by impinging on epigenetic mechanisms such as inhibition of histone deacetylase HDAC1, with implications for HIV and cancer treatment, and for the direct reprogramming in generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. VPA can thus act at multiple levels and in several cellular systems. In addition to its established applications for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders, and its newly discovered epigenetic mechanisms of action, the peripheral metabolic effects of VPA administration, in particular impinging on the heart and on the liver, are now starting to be understood. These have important consequences for the management of therapy and also for investigation purposes. The aim of this article is on one hand to summarize the emerging knowledge on the role of VPA during the occurrence of cardio-metabolic dysfunctions and on the other hand to describe concisely the VPA-induced epigenetic modifications in target cells.

Keywords: Epigenetics, heart, histone deacetylases, lipid metabolism, liver, valproic acid.


Rights & Permissions Print Export Cite as
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy