An IFNγ-dependent immune-endocrine circuit lowers blood glucose to potentiate the innate antiviral immune response.

Viral infection makes us feel sick as the immune system alters systemic metabolism to better fight the pathogen. The extent of these changes is relative to the severity of disease. Whether blood glucose is subject to infection-induced modulation is mostly unknown.

A cross-sectional study in type 2 diabetes patients reveals that elevated pulse wave velocity predicts asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease associated with age and diabetes duration.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) reduces functional capacity and raises cardiovascular risks, but underdiagnosis is common, resulting in less comprehensive care than other cardiovascular conditions. While diabetes has long been viewed as a key risk factor for PAD, recent studies indicate that its impact is influenced by the presence of concurrent cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of this study is to elucidate the intricate relationship between the prevalence of PAD, diabetic complications, and cardiovascular risk factors among asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Inflammageing mediated by cytotoxic lymphocytes is associated with diabetes duration.

Aims: Inflammageing, the age-related systemic increase of proinflammatory factors, has been linked to the development of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and cancer in the elderly. Chronic inflammation is believed to be a causative factor in the development of diabetic complications. However, exactly how type 2 diabetes impacts the inflammatory state of the immune system is incompletely characterised.

NKG2D-mediated detection of metabolically stressed hepatocytes by innate-like T cells is essential for initiation of NASH and fibrosis.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from benign steatosis to cirrhosis. A key event in the pathophysiology of MAFLD is the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which can potentially lead to fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, but the triggers of MAFLD-associated inflammation are not well understood. We have observed that lipid accumulation in hepatocytes induces expression of ligands specific to the activating immune receptor NKG2D.

When amiodarone-induced thyroiditis meets cardiomyopathy with excessive trabeculation: a case report.

Introduction: Amiodarone is a potent antiarrhythmic medication used to treat life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias; however, its well-established adverse effect is a thyroid disorder. Amiodarone-induced thyroiditis (AIT), a clinical entity involving two types with different etiopathology and treatment approaches, may occur at the beginning or even several years after amiodarone treatment discontinuation. The toxicity profile of amiodarone becomes especially important in young patients with lifelong cardiac disorders, which are often refractory to other antiarrhythmic drugs.

Arterial blood gases' analysis in elite breath-hold divers at extreme depths.

Purpose: To showcase results of arterial blood gases' analysis in elite breath-hold divers sampled at depths where their total lung capacities are below their residual lung volume on surface.

Methods: Three male elite breath-hold divers performed body plethysmographies to determine their lung volumes. Two dives were performed, one on normal inhalation to 60 m of depth and the second on complete exhalation to 10 m of depth.

Extreme anaerobic exercise causes reduced cytotoxicity and increased cytokine production by peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Exercise has many beneficial effects for our body, but can become detrimental at high intensity, especially for our immune system. Little is known about the underlying mechanism of impaired immune functionality under conditions of intense physical strain. Freedivers, people who dive to high depths on a single breath, perform extreme exercise under anaerobic conditions.

An analysis of the vitamin D overtesting in a tertiary healthcare centre.

Introduction: Vitamin D testing is excessively used in clinical practice, despite of the clinical guidelines statements against population screening for vitamin D deficiency. This study aimed to assess an annual number of performed 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) tests that were unsupported by the national guidelines for prevention, detection and therapy of vitamin D deficiency in adults and to calculate associated financial burden for the publicly funded healthcare.

Materials And Methods: A representative sample of requested 25(OH)D tests in 2018 (N = 474) was formed after selection and randomisation of data set (N = 5298) collected from the laboratory information system database of the Clinical Department for Laboratory Diagnostics, the Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka.

Hyperglycemia and Not Hyperinsulinemia Mediates Diabetes-Induced Memory CD8 T-Cell Dysfunction.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) causes an increased risk of morbidity and mortality in response to viral infection. T2D is characterized by hyperglycemia and is typically associated with insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinemia. CD8 T cells express the insulin receptor, and previously, we have shown that insulin is able to directly modulate effector CD8 T-cell function.

Haemoptysis in breath-hold divers; where does it come from?

Introduction: The aim of reporting these two cases is to present visual evidence by bronchoscopy of the origin of haemoptysis in two elite breath-hold divers.

Case Reports: Two male elite breath-hold divers of similar physical characteristics presented to our clinic after performing dives of up to 75 and 59 meters of seawater depth for 2:30 and 2:35 (minutes:seconds) respectively. Both patients presented with haemoptysis.

Blood glucose regulation in context of infection.

The immune and endocrine systems collectively control homeostasis in the body. The endocrine system ensures that values of essential factors and nutrients such as glucose, electrolytes and vitamins are maintained within threshold values. The immune system resolves local disruptions in tissue homeostasis, caused by pathogens or malfunctioning cells.

Type 2 diabetes and viral infection; cause and effect of disease.

The recent pandemic of COVID-19 has made abundantly clear that Type 2 diabetes (T2D) increases the risk of more frequent and more severe viral infections. At the same time, pro-inflammatory cytokines of an anti-viral Type-I profile promote insulin resistance and form a risk factor for development of T2D. What this illustrates is that there is a reciprocal, detrimental interaction between the immune and endocrine system in the context of T2D.

Vitamin D for treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease detected by transient elastography: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of vitamin D on transient elastography (TE, FibroScan) indices of liver steatosis (controlled attenuation parameter [CAP]) and fibrosis (liver stiffness measurement [LSM]) in adults with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Patients And Methods: In this randomized (2:1), double-blind, single-centre, 12-month trial, patients with NAFLD were treated with vitamin D (1000 IU/day) (n = 201) or a matching placebo (n = 110). Two co-primary outcomes were changes in CAP and LSM after 360 days of treatment versus baseline.

'Beauty and the beast' in infection: How immune-endocrine interactions regulate systemic metabolism in the context of infection.

The immune and endocrine systems ensure two vital functions in the body. The immune system protects us from lethal pathogens, whereas the endocrine system ensures proper metabolic function of peripheral organs by regulating systemic homeostasis. These two systems were long thought to operate independently.

Virus-Induced Interferon-γ Causes Insulin Resistance in Skeletal Muscle and Derails Glycemic Control in Obesity.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines of a T helper-1-signature are known to promote insulin resistance (IR) in obesity, but the physiological role of this mechanism is unclear. It is also unknown whether and how viral infection induces loss of glycemic control in subjects at risk for developing diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2). We have found in mice and humans that viral infection caused short-term systemic IR.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease - A multisystem disease?

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common comorbidities associated with overweight and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Importantly, NAFLD is one of its most dangerous complications because it can lead to severe liver pathologies, including fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatic cellular carcinoma. Given the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity, NAFLD has become the most common cause of chronic liver disease and therefore is a major global health problem.

[CROATIAN GUIDELINES FOR THE PHARMACOTHERAPY OF TYPE 2 DIABETES].

Introduction: The Croatian Association for Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders of the Croatian Medical Association has issued in 2011 the first national guidelines for the nutrition, education, self-control, and pharmacotherapy of diabetes type 2. According to the increased number of available medicines and new evidence related to the effectiveness and safety of medicines already involved in the therapy there was a need for update of the existing guidelines for the pharmacotherapy of type 2 diabetes in the Republic of Croatia.

Participants: as co-authors of the Guidelines there are listed all members of the Croatian Association for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, as well as other representatives of professional societies within the Croatian Medical Association, who have contributed with comments and suggestions to the development of the Guidelines.

Interactions between adipose tissue and the immune system in health and malnutrition.

Adipose tissue provides the body with a storage depot of nutrients that is drained during times of starvation and replenished when food sources are abundant. As such, it is the primary sensor for nutrient availability in the milieu of an organism, which it communicates to the body through the excretion of hormones. Adipose tissue regulates a multitude of body functions associated with metabolism, such as gluconeogenesis, feeding and nutrient uptake.

The "Big Bang" in obese fat: Events initiating obesity-induced adipose tissue inflammation.

Obesity is associated with the accumulation of pro-inflammatory cells in visceral adipose tissue (VAT), which is an important underlying cause of insulin resistance and progression to diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2). Although the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in disease development is established, the initiating events leading to immune cell activation remain elusive. Lean adipose tissue is predominantly populated with regulatory cells, such as eosinophils and type 2 innate lymphocytes.

NK cells link obesity-induced adipose stress to inflammation and insulin resistance.

An important cause of obesity-induced insulin resistance is chronic systemic inflammation originating in visceral adipose tissue (VAT). VAT inflammation is associated with the accumulation of proinflammatory macrophages in adipose tissue, but the immunological signals that trigger their accumulation remain unknown. We found that a phenotypically distinct population of tissue-resident natural killer (NK) cells represented a crucial link between obesity-induced adipose stress and VAT inflammation.

BMP signaling in rats with TNBS-induced colitis following BMP7 therapy.

Beyond stimulating bone formation, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are important in development, inflammation, and malignancy of the gut. We have previously shown that BMP7 has a regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative effect on experimental inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in rats. To further investigate the BMP signaling pathway we monitored the effect of BMP7 therapy on the BMP signaling components in the rat colon during different stages of experimentally induced colitis by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS).