Nuclear Receptors in Hepatic Glucose and Lipid Metabolism During Neonatal and Adult Life

Research efforts focusing on metabolic diseases have established a close conjunction between glucolipid abnormalities and nuclear receptors, a large superfamily of receptors including classic peroxisome proliferation-activated receptors (PPARs), liver X receptors (LXRs), farnesoid X receptors (FXRs) and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) together with burgeoning retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors (RORs) and REV-ERBs. Nuclear receptors are identified to control a series of physiological and pathological processes of glucose and lipid metabolism and also implicated to mediate the long-term effects of early environmental and nutritional experiences on the formation of adult chronic metabolic disorders in human and animals. Thus, nuclear receptors play profound roles in fetal programming and adult regulation of glucolipid metabolism. In this review, we provide an overview on the recent advances in the field of nuclear receptors focusing on their roles in lipid and glucose metabolism during early and late life courses. We hope that this knowledge may shed new lights on identifying the novel target molecules or pathways for the prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders involving disrupted glucose and lipid homeostasis in human and animals.