Table 1 Placentokines and exerkines in pregnancy

Apelin

Increased metabolism, thermogenesis in humans and animals

[17]

Increased glucose transport, decreased insulin resistance in animals

[21,22,23,24]

Increased lipid oxidation, increased brown adipose tissue in animals

[20]

Increased mitochondrial activity, mitochondrial biogenesis, increased type 1 fibers in animals

[20]

Reduce oxidative stress, decreased preeclampsia in animals

[27]

Reduced blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased ejection fraction, and baroreflex sensitivity in animals

[28]

Vasodilator effect, nitric oxide (NO) production, smooth muscle relaxation in animals

[29]

Increases in angiogenesis in humans and animals

[30, 31]

Leptin

Inhibition of insulin secretion in humans

[32]

Increased muscle mass and muscle fiber size, decreased expression of myostatin, muscle loop protein 1 (MuRF1), and muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx) in humans and animals

[33]

Increased hydrolysis and oxidation of fatty acids, and muscle triglycerides (TG) in humans and animals

[34, 35]

Production of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-12 by monocytes, and increased diabetes in humans and animals

[35]

Increased sFlt-1/PlGF ratio, increased preeclampsia in humans

[36]

Increased anti-angiogenic factors, such as sFLT1, s-endoglin, endothelin 1 in humans

[37]

Thrombus formation and increased atherosclerosis due to proliferation, migration, and calcification of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in animals

[38]

Increased blood pressure, heart rate, pathological hypertrophy, left ventricular dysfunction, frequency of ischemic arrhythmias, systemic inflammation, and myocardial infarction size in animals

[39]

Adiponectin

Glucose and lipid metabolism, anti-inflammatory effect in humans

[40]

Increased insulin sensitivity, increased fatty acid oxidation and glucose uptake in skeletal muscles, decreased glucose production in the liver in humans and animals

[41]

Has anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic effects and vasoprotective activities in humans

[42, 43]

Decreased cell adhesion molecules [E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1)] and reduced vascular inflammation in humans

[44]

Irisin

Decreased insulin resistance in humans

[111, 45]

Antioxidant properties in humans and animals

[46]

Increased PGC-1α, nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), increased mitochondrial content and oxygen consumption in animals

[47, 48]

Increased mRNA expression of UCP1 and Cidea, browning of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue, and thermogenesis in humans and animals

[49]

Anti-apoptotic, decreased caspase-3 activity, increased anti-apoptotic BCL2 to pro-apoptotic BAX, decreased ROS, increased Akt signaling pathway and cell survival in humans

[50]

Chemerin

Decreased tissue glucose uptake and increased insulin resistance in human muscle cells in humans

[51]

Increased fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), and inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-α in humans

[52]

Increased preeclampsia positively correlated with the ratio of soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) to placental growth factor (PlGF) in humans

[53]

Increased sFlt-1, inflammatory markers (NFkB, TNF-α, and IL-1β), reduced vascular endothelial factor A (VEGF-A), and inhibition of tube formation during co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in animals

[54]