Involvement of Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) in various Diseases

Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) is a lipid compound, glyceryl ether analog of phosphatidylcholine. PAF through its binding to a well-characterized receptor initiates a multitude of cellular pro-inflammatory actions that are thus involved in the pathology of most chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and renal diseases, central nervous system (CNS) diseases and cancer. It has also played a role in several other chronic inflammation-related diseases, such as type I and type II diabetes, acute pancreatitis, liver damage, inflammatory eye diseases, vascular dysfunction during acute lung injury and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease.