A novel peptide adropin in cardiovascular diseases

•Adropin has a number of physiological actions.•Adropin plays a key role in cardiovascular diseases.•Targeting adropin is a viable approach to treat cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis and hypertension, are the major cause of mortality and morbidity in the world. Adropin was first discovered in 2008 by Kumar and his coworkers. Adropin, encoded by the Energy Homeostasis Associated gene, is expressed in many tissues and organs, such as pancreatic tissue, liver, brain, kidney, endocardium, myocardium, and epicardium. In this review, we have summarized recent data suggesting the roles of adropin in several major cardiovascular diseases. Increasing evidence suggests that adropin is a potential regulator of cardiovascular functions and plays a protective role in the pathogenesis and development of cardiovascular diseases. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the specific mechanisms underlying the association between adropin and cardiovascular diseases.