Catestatin (CST)

Catestatin (CST) is a peptide derived by proteolytic digestion from the pro-protein Chromogranin A, a secretagogue expressed in neuroendocrine tissues and macrophages. It prevents catecholamine production by inhibiting neural acetylcholine receptor activity. As a result, CST can reduce essential hypertension. Later discoveries in animal studies proved that CST promotes lipolysis alleviates fatty liver condition and reduces fasting blood glucose levels in obese and diabetic mice.

Our recent data suggests that the ability of CST to drive storage of glucose as glycogen may be responsible for its improvement in glucose tolerance. The fact that CST reduces blood pressure and blood glucose as well as fat accumulation in liver makes it an excellent candidate for a therapy for metabolic disorders. A patent has been sanctioned on the basis of these properties. However, CST has not been tested in human studies, which is our next goal.