BACKGROUND: Worldwide, adults and children are at risk of adrenal insufficiency as a result of adrenal suppression from use of anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids and opiates, as well as infectious diseases. The adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) stimulation test is the reference standard for diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency but requires clinic attendance and venesection. Salivary cortisone reflects free serum cortisol, and samples can be collected at home and posted to a laboratory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is often associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. To disentangle etiological relationships between these conditions and identify genetically-determined metabolites involved in NAFLD processes, we mapped H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomic and disease-related phenotypes in a mouse F2 cross derived from strains showing resistance (BALB/c) and increased susceptibility (129S6) to these diseases. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes identified diet responsive QTLs in F2 mice fed control or high fat diet (HFD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe influence of the gut microbiome on metabolic and behavioral traits is widely accepted, though the microbiome-derived metabolites involved remain unclear. We carried out untargeted urine H-NMR spectroscopy-based metabolic phenotyping in an isogenic C57BL/6J mouse population (n = 50) and show that microbial-host co-metabolites are prodromal (i.e.
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