Chemerin as a Mediator of Hypertension and Cardiometabolic Diseases (A Comprehensive Review)

Chemerin, a recently identified adipokine, has emerged as a critical mediator in multiple physiological systems with significant implications for human health and disease. This review synthesizes current knowledge on chemerin's multifaceted roles across cardiovascular, renal, immune, and metabolic processes. Acting through its primary receptor CMKLR1, chemerin influences sympathetic nervous system activity in key brain regions including the nucleus tractus solitarius and paraventricular nucleus, thereby regulating blood pressure and cardiovascular function.

In the kidneys, elevated chemerin levels correlate with declining renal function, serving as both a biomarker and pathogenic factor in chronic kidney disease progression and diabetic nephropathy. As an immune modulator, chemerin facilitates leukocyte recruitment, promotes macrophage polarization toward pro-inflammatory phenotypes, and enhances endothelial inflammation, establishing it as a pivotal link between metabolic dysregulation and chronic inflammatory states. Chemerin plays a central role in hypertension by altering endothelial function, renal function and sympathetic outflow. In metabolic regulation, chemerin influences adipocyte differentiation, glucose homeostasis, and central appetite control, connecting obesity with systemic inflammation and insulin resistance. The convergence of these diverse functions positions chemerin as an integrative signaling molecule with considerable therapeutic potential. This review highlights chemerin's role as a promising target for novel interventions in hypertension, kidney disease, inflammatory disorders, and metabolic syndrome, potentially transforming treatment strategies for these interconnected conditions.