Indeed, ongoing studies are investigating the potential benefits of apelin and apelin-mimetics for disorders such as heart failure and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Apelin is an endogenous vasodilatory and inotropic peptide that is down-regulated in human pulmonary arterial hypertension, although the density of the apelin receptor is not significantly attenuated.
The apelin receptor is a potential target in the treatment of heart failure and pulmonary arterial hypertension where levels of endogenous apelin peptides are reduced but significant receptor levels remain.