The story of PONI: how an organophosphate-hydrolysing enzyme is becoming a player in cardiovascular medicine

Since the discovery of human serum paraoxonase (PONi), the enzyme has been the subject of various fields of research. Initially, PONi was identified as an enzyme capable of hydrolysing organophosphate compounds, but there is a growing body of evidence that PONi plays a role in lipid metabolism and the onset of cardiovascular disease. Still, the precise mechanism by which PONi functions in vivo remains to be clarified. Here we will briefly review developments in the field of PONi research which merit further attention.