Striatal Dopamine Transporter Availability Is Not Associated with Food Craving in Lean and Obese Humans; a Molecular Imaging Study.

Brain dopamine signaling is essential for the motivation to eat, and obesity is associated with altered dopaminergic signaling and increased food craving. We used molecular neuroimaging to explore whether striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability is associated with craving as measured with the General Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait (G-FCQ-T). We here show that humans with obesity ( = 34) experienced significantly more craving for food compared with lean subjects ( = 32), but food craving did not correlate significantly with striatal DAT availability as assessed with I-FP-CIT single-photon emission computed tomography.

Early warning scores to assess the probability of critical illness in patients with COVID-19.

Objective: Validated clinical risk scores are needed to identify patients with COVID-19 at risk of severe disease and to guide triage decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the performance of early warning scores (EWS) in the ED when identifying patients with COVID-19 who will require intensive care unit (ICU) admission for high-flow-oxygen usage or mechanical ventilation.

Methods: Patients with a proven SARS-CoV-2 infection with complete resuscitate orders treated in nine hospitals between 27 February and 30 July 2020 needing hospital admission were included.

Towards an ecosystem service-based method to quantify the filtration services of mussels under chemical exposure.

As filter-feeders, freshwater mussels provide the ecosystem service (ES) of biofiltration. Chemical pollution may impinge on the provisioning of mussels' filtration services. However, few attempts have been made to estimate the impacts of chemical mixtures on mussels' filtration capacities in the field, nor to assess the economic benefits of mussel-provided filtration services for humans.

Towards nationally harmonized mapping and quantification of ecosystem services.

The EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy requests EU Member States to map and assess ecosystem services within national territories, and to promote and integrate these values into policy-making. This calls for standardized and harmonized data, indicators, and methods to assess ecosystem services within national boundaries. Current approaches for assessing ecosystem services often oversimplify cross-scale heterogeneity, sacrificing the spatial and thematic detail required to support the needs and expectations of decision-makers at different levels.

Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas: New Developments with Regard to Classification, Genetics, and Cell of Origin.

Pheochromocytomas (PCC) and paragangliomas (PGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors that arise in the adrenal medulla and in extra-adrenal locations, such as the head, neck, thorax, abdomen, and pelvis. Classification of these tumors into those with or without metastatic potential on the basis of gross or microscopic features is challenging. Recent insights and scoring systems have attempted to develop solutions for this, as described in the latest World Health Organization (WHO) edition on endocrine tumor pathology.

An Update on the Histology of Pheochromocytomas: How Does it Relate to Genetics?

Pheochromocytomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors of the adrenal gland, whereas any extra-adrenal tumor with similar histology is designated as paraganglioma. These tumors have a very high rate of germline mutations in a large number of genes, up to 35% to 40%, frequently predisposing for other tumors as well. Therefore, they represent a phenomenal challenge for treating physicians.

Quantifying biomass production for assessing ecosystem services of riverine landscapes.

Society is increasingly in need of renewable resources to replace fossil fuels and to prevent resource depletion. River-floodplain systems are known to provide important societal functions and ecosystem services to mankind, such as production of vegetative biomass. In order to determine the potential of harvesting vegetative riparian biomass, the capacity of river systems to produce such biomass needs to be determined.

Fatal rupture of a mycotic aneurysm of the right coronary artery post pneumococcal sepsis.

Aneurysms of the coronary arteries are rare and mycotic coronary aneurysms are even rarer. We report a unique, yet unfortunately autopsy-proven fatal case of a ruptured atherosclerotic mycotic aneurysm of the right coronary artery with streptococcus pneumoniae in a non-immunocompromised patient resulting in cor tamponade and death.

Immunoglobulin G4-mediated sclerosing cholangitis as a risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma: A case report.

Immunoglobulin (Ig)G4-mediated disease is a systemic autoimmune disease, which occasionally presents solely as sclerosing cholangitis (SC). IgG4-mediated SC is challenging to diagnose, as it may mimic cholangiocarcinoma radiologically, and carcinoma cells may produce IgG4. The diagnosis of IgG4-mediated disease is based on histological consensus criteria and response to corticosteroids.

Serotonin Transporter Binding in the Diencephalon Is Reduced in Insulin-Resistant Obese Humans.

Background: Altered brain dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways have been shown in obese rodents and humans, but it is unknown whether this is related to obesity per se or to the metabolic derangements associated with obesity.

Methods: We performed a case-control study in insulin-sensitive obese (ISO) and insulin-resistant obese (IRO) subjects (n = 12) and age-matched lean controls (n = 8) and measured serotonin transporter (SERT) binding in the whole diencephalon and specifically in the hypothalamus, as well as dopamine transporter (DAT) binding in the striatum using 123I- FP-CIT single-photon emission computed tomography. We assessed insulin sensitivity using the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance.

Brain dopamine and serotonin transporter binding are associated with visual attention bias for food in lean men.

Background: In rodents, the striatal dopamine (DA) system and the (hypo)thalamic serotonin (5-HT) system are involved in the regulation of feeding behavior. In lean humans, little is known about the relationship between these brain neurotransmitter systems and feeding. We studied the relationship between striatal DA transporters (DAT) and diencephalic 5-HT transporters (SERT), behavioral tasks and questionnaires, and food intake.

Insulin resistance in obesity can be reliably identified from fasting plasma insulin.

Background/objectives: Insulin resistance is the major contributor to cardiometabolic complications of obesity. We aimed to (1) establish cutoff points for insulin resistance from euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamps (EHCs), (2) identify insulin-resistant obese subjects and (3) predict insulin resistance from routinely measured variables.

Subjects/methods: We assembled data from non-obese (n=112) and obese (n=100) men who underwent two-step EHCs using [6,6-(2)H2]glucose as tracer (insulin infusion dose 20 and 60 mU m(-2) min(-1), respectively).

Decreased serotonin transporter immunoreactivity in the human hypothalamic infundibular nucleus of overweight subjects.

Context: That serotonin plays a role in the regulation of feeding behavior and energy metabolism has been known for a long time. Serotonin transporters (SERT) play a crucial role in serotonin signaling by regulating its availability in the synaptic cleft. The neuroanatomy underlying serotonergic signaling in humans is largely unknown, and until now, SERT immunoreactivity in relation to body weight has not been investigated.

Hypercaloric diets with increased meal frequency, but not meal size, increase intrahepatic triglycerides: a randomized controlled trial.

Unlabelled: American children consume up to 27% of calories from high-fat and high-sugar snacks. Both sugar and fat consumption have been implicated as a cause of hepatic steatosis and obesity but the effect of meal pattern is largely understudied. We hypothesized that a high meal frequency, compared to consuming large meals, is detrimental in the accumulation of intrahepatic and abdominal fat.

Diet-induced changes in the Lean Brain: Hypercaloric high-fat-high-sugar snacking decreases serotonin transporters in the human hypothalamic region.

It is evident that there is a relationship between the brain's serotonin system and obesity. Although it is clear that drugs affecting the serotonin system regulate appetite and food intake, it is unclear whether changes in the serotonin system are cause or consequence of obesity. To determine whether obesogenic eating habits result in reduced serotonin transporter (SERT)-binding in the human hypothalamic region, we included 25 lean, male subjects who followed a 6-week-hypercaloric diet, which were high-fat-high-sugar (HFHS) or high-sugar (HS) with increased meal size or -frequency (=snacking pattern).

Assessing the optimal time point for the measurement of extrastriatal serotonin transporter binding with 123I-FP-CIT SPECT in healthy, male subjects.

Unlabelled: (123)I-N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carboxymethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane ((123)I-FP-CIT) is commonly used to assess the dopamine transporter in the striatum. However, recent studies suggest that this tracer may be used also to assess binding to monoamine transporters in the midbrain or diencephalon, which may reflect predominantly serotonin transporter (SERT) binding. However, it is still unclear at what time point after injection SPECT should be performed for optimal assessment of SERT with(123)I-FP-CIT.

The mast cell stabiliser ketotifen decreases visceral hypersensitivity and improves intestinal symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Background: Mast cell activation is thought to be involved in visceral hypersensitivity, one of the main characteristics of the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A study was therefore undertaken to investigate the effect of the mast cell stabiliser ketotifen on rectal sensitivity and symptoms in patients with IBS.

Methods: 60 patients with IBS underwent a barostat study to assess rectal sensitivity before and after 8 weeks of treatment.

Effect of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on functional outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with tPA.

Background: Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of ischemic stroke by effects on neuronal cell survival and the plasticity of brain processes. In the present study, we investigated whether prior treatment with a SSRI is associated with more favorable functional outcome in a cohort of patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).

Methods: In a prospective observational cohort study of 476 acute ischemic stroke patients treated with tPA we investigated the relationship between prior SSRI treatment and functional outcome at 3 months.

Statin use and functional outcome after tissue plasminogen activator treatment in acute ischaemic stroke.

Background: Preliminary findings suggest that statins may have a neuroprotective effect in patients with acute ischaemic stroke. This study investigated whether patients on prior statin therapy and treated with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for acute ischaemic stroke have a better functional outcome than statin-naïve patients.

Methods: In a prospective observational cohort study of 476 acute ischaemic stroke patients treated with tPA we investigated the relationship between prior statin use and functional outcome at 3 months, the occurrence of symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage (SICH) and early in-hospital mortality.

Risk factors for cerebral venous thrombosis and deep venous thrombosis in patients aged between 15 and 50 years.

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) and deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE) are associated with many risk factors. It is unclear why CVT occurs less often than DVT/PE. Age dependent risk factors may play a role.