Abstract:

Bioactive small molecules, according to their internal relatio nships, are classified into many families such as active polypeptide family, single amino acid family, and gaseous signal molecules family, etc. Among them, the representative of the single amino acid family is homocysteine; the representatives of the gaseous signal family are nitrogen monoxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide;while the largest families are active polypeptide family and lipid family, including brain natriuretic peptide,adrenomedullin (ADM), angiotensin Ⅱ, auxin (also called ghrelin), urotensin Ⅱ (UⅡ), and adipocytokines such as adiponectin, leptin, resistin, as well as apelin peptide, and the newly-discovered muscle factor irisin which has many biological effects and plays important roles in kidney disease,cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. In this paper, we have reviewed the roles of ghrelin, urotensin II, resistin, apelin peptide, and irisin in kidney diseases.

Key words: Bioactive small molecule, Bioactive polypeptide, Kidney disease