Bone morphogenetic protein-9 (BMP-9) is a novel cytokine which is cloned from the fetal mouse liver cDNA library and belongs to the member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily. BMP-9 is mainly secreted by the liver and exerts a variety of physiological functions. In this review, we present the latest knowledge on the biochemistry of BMP-9 and its role in glucose metabolism and lipid homeostasis. We introduced the expression site, structure, synthesis, and secretion of BMP-9, as well as BMP-9 signaling pathway. We also discuss the effects of BMP-9 on glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism in different organs. BMP-9 can regulate glucose and lipid homeostasis in the body by inhibiting liver gluconeogenesis, transforming white adipose tissue to brown adipose tissue, promoting muscle glycogen synthesis, increasing the uptake and utilization of glucose by muscle tissue, increasing liver and adipose tissue insulin sensitivity, promoting insulin synthesis and secretion, inhibiting liver lipid deposition, and playing a leptin-like role. Finally, through the results of animal intervention studies and human clinical studies in the review, we deeply understand the association of BMP-9 with obesity, insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which provides new ideas for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

骨形态发生蛋白9（BMP-9）是一种新型的细胞因子，从胎儿小鼠肝脏cDNA文库中克隆而来，属于转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）超家族的成员。BMP-9主要由肝脏分泌，并发挥多种生理功能。在这篇综述中，我们介绍了BMP-9的生物化学及其在葡萄糖代谢和脂质稳态中的作用的最新知识。我们介绍了BMP-9的表达位点，结构，合成和分泌以及BMP-9信号通路。我们还讨论了BMP-9对不同器官葡萄糖代谢和脂质代谢的影响。BMP-9可通过抑制肝脏糖异生，将白色脂肪组织转变为棕色脂肪组织，促进肌肉糖原合成来调节体内的葡萄糖和脂质体内稳态，增加肌肉组织对葡萄糖的吸收和利用，增加肝脏和脂肪组织对胰岛素的敏感性，促进胰岛素合成和分泌，抑制肝脏脂质沉积，并起到瘦素样作用。最后，通过本综述中动物干预研究和人类临床研究的结果，我们深入了解BMP-9与肥胖，胰岛素抵抗（IR），2型糖尿病和非酒精性脂肪肝疾病（NAFLD）的关系，为疾病的预防和治疗提供了新思路。