Central FGF19 signaling enhances energy homeostasis and adipose tissue thermogenesis through sympathetic activation in obese mice.

Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) signaling in the brain is associated with body weight loss, reduced food intake, and improved glycemic control in obese mice through unclear mechanisms. Here, we investigated the effects of central FGF19 administration on peripheral tissues, focusing on adipose tissue, and its contributions to body weight loss. Using single-cell RNA sequencing of the adult murine hypothalamus, we found that FGF19 has the potential to target multiple cell populations, including astrocytes-tanycytes, microglia, neurons, and oligodendrocytes.

Balb/c mice are protected from glucose and acute cold intolerance.

The brown adipose tissue is a potential target for interventions aimed at treating obesity and other metabolic disorders. Both genetic and environmental factors are known to regulate brown adipose tissue function and exploring the interaction between these factors could unveil new mechanisms involved in the regulation of thermogenesis. In this study, we evaluated three genetically distinct mice strains submitted to two environmental factors known to modulate brown adipose tissue function, namely, cold exposure and the consumption of a high-fat diet.

Lamb Performance and Meat Quality: The Impact of Chromium in High-Concentrate Diets and Its Molecular Effects on Skeletal Muscle During Finishing Phase.

Chromium is an essential trace mineral in insulin-mediated glucose metabolism, potentially affecting protein synthesis and improving performance and meat quality. This study aimed to assess the impact of chromium on performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and the gene expression in the skeletal muscle of lambs fed a high-concentrate diet. Sixteen just just-weaned Dorper × Santa Inês crossbred lambs, weighing 24.

In Vitro Inhibition of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress: A Promising Therapeutic Strategy for Patients with Crohn's Disease.

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease marked by an abnormal immune response and excessive pro-inflammatory cytokines, leading to impaired protein processing and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. This stress, caused by the accumulation of misfolded proteins, triggers the unfolded protein response (UPR) through IRE1/Xbp-1, PERK/eIF2α, and ATF6 pathways, which are linked to intestinal inflammation. This study aimed to investigate ER stress in CD patients' intestinal mucosa and evaluate phenylbutyrate (PBA) as an ER stress inhibitor.

CETP expression in females increases body metabolism under both cold exposure and thermoneutrality contributing to a leaner phenotype.

Susceptibility to obesity differs depending on the genetic background and housing temperatures. We have recently reported that CETP expressing female mice are leaner due to increased lipolysis, brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity, and body energy expenditure compared to nontransgenic (NTg) littermates under standard housing temperature (22°C). The aim of this study is to evaluate how CETP expression affects body temperature, composition, and metabolism during cold exposure (4°C) and thermoneutrality (30°C).

The hypothalamus as the central regulator of energy balance and its impact on current and future obesity treatments.

The hypothalamus is a master regulator of energy balance in the body. First-order hypothalamic neurons localized in the arcuate nucleus sense systemic signals that indicate the energy stores in the body. Through distinct projections, arcuate nucleus neurons communicate with second-order neurons, which are mostly localized in the paraventricular nucleus and in the lateral hypothalamus.

Abdominal obesity and cardiometabolic risk markers: A comparative analysis of waist circumference, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

Background And Aims: This study compares three methods to determine central adiposity (waist circumference -WC - and visceral adipose tissue - VAT - estimated by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry - DXA, and by magnetic resonance imaging - MRI) in their ability to predict increases in cardiometabolic risk (CMR) markers in young individuals. We examined their associations with CMR in 47 men and women aged 25-40.

Methods And Results: VAT mass was assessed using DXA and MRI.

Combined training and hormones/enzymes with insulinotropic actions in individuals with overweight and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A randomized controlled trial.

The incretins (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide [GIP] and glucagon-like peptide-1 [GLP-1]), along with amylin/islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) and insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), are hormones/enzymes that have been pharmacological targets, such as dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, due to their insulinotropic actions. Physical training is recommended as a treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM); however, its effects on the concentrations of these hormones/enzymes are not well known. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of combined training (CT) on the concentrations of hormones/enzymes with insulinotropic actions in individuals with T2DM and overweight.

Growth Hormone, Hypothalamic Inflammation, and Aging.

While inflammation is a crucial response in injury repair and tissue regeneration, chronic inflammation is a prevalent feature in various chronic, non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer and in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Long-term inflammation considerably affects disease prevalence, quality of life, and longevity. Our research indicates that the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor 1 (GH/IGF-1) axis is a pivotal regulator of inflammation in some tissues, including the hypothalamus, which is a key player in systemic metabolism regulation.

Better cardiometabolic/inflammatory profile is associated with differences in the supraclavicular adipose tissue activity of individuals with T2DM.

Purpose: Brown adipose tissue (BAT), located in the supraclavicular region, has been associated with a better cardiometabolic profile and reduced risk of developing non-communicable chronic diseases (NCD), in addition to being associated with a healthier phenotype in obesity. However, it is unknown whether greater supraclavicular adipose tissue activity could be associated with a healthier metabolic profile in people already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Thus, the present work evaluated if supraclavicular adipose tissue activity is associated with metabolic and molecular markers in individuals with T2DM.

Impact of Sleeve Gastrectomy on Body Weight and Food Intake Regulation in Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

The epidemic of obesity has increased worldwide and is associated with comorbidities such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In this context, strategies that modulate body weight and improve glycemic metabolism have increased, and bariatric surgeries such as Sleeve Gastrectomy (SG) have been highlighted in obesity treatment. However, the mechanism by which SG reduces body weight and improves glycemic control remains unknown.

Therapeutic BCG vaccine protects against long COVID: The BATTLE randomized clinical trial.

Background: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) injected during the COVID-19 convalescence period was safe and enhanced recovery from anosmia and dysgeusia in the acute phase.

Objectives: To report the long-term results of the BATTLE trial, BCG vaccine in adults with mild COVID-19.

Methods: Design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized (1:1) clinical trial.

CXCR3-expressing myeloid cells recruited to the hypothalamus protect against diet-induced body mass gain and metabolic dysfunction.

Microgliosis plays a critical role in diet-induced hypothalamic inflammation. A few hours after a high-fat diet (HFD), hypothalamic microglia shift to an inflammatory phenotype, and prolonged fat consumption leads to the recruitment of bone marrow-derived cells to the hypothalamus. However, the transcriptional signatures and functions of these cells remain unclear.

Diacerein reduces inflammasome activation and SARS-CoV-2 virus replication: a proof-of-concept translational study.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is linked to high mortality, primarily through an intense inflammatory response. Diacerein has emerged as a potential therapy for COVID-19 due to its potential impact in decreasing the inflammasome activation and coronavirus replication. This study aims to explore diacerein's influence in inhibiting both viral replication and the inflammatory response after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Cooking for Health: a comprehensive narrative review of Culinary Medicine as an educational tool in medical training in Brazil and Globally.

The poor diet quality in line with the rising prevalence of noncommunicable chronic diseases, coupled with the substantial deficit in nutritional education within medical training programs, has precipitated the emergence of Culinary Medicine as an evolving discipline. Culinary Medicine fuses the art of home cooking with the sciences of human nutrition, psychology, gastronomy, and medicine to promote health and well-being. This comprehensive narrative review explores the diverse facets of Culinary Medicine, elucidating its historical evolution, theoretical foundations, educational initiatives in Brazil and worldwide, and its practical implementation in clinical contexts.

The Consumption of the Fibrous Fraction of St. Hil. Does Not Preserve the Intestinal Mucosa in TNBS-Induced Rats.

St. Hil. is considered a natural anti-inflammatory.

Sympathetic neuropeptide Y protects from obesity by sustaining thermogenic fat.

Human mutations in neuropeptide Y (NPY) have been linked to high body mass index but not altered dietary patterns. Here we uncover the mechanism by which NPY in sympathetic neurons protects from obesity. Imaging of cleared mouse brown and white adipose tissue (BAT and WAT, respectively) established that NPY sympathetic axons are a smaller subset that mostly maps to the perivasculature; analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing datasets identified mural cells as the main NPY-responsive cells in adipose tissues.

Protein C Pretreatment Protects Endothelial Cells from SARS-CoV-2-Induced Activation.

SARS-CoV-2 can induce vascular dysfunction and thrombotic events in patients with severe COVID-19; however, the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind these effects remain largely unknown. In this study, we used a combination of experimental and in silico approaches to investigate the role of PC in vascular and thrombotic events in COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing data from patients with COVID-19 and healthy subjects were obtained from the publicly available Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository.

Modulation of Human Macrophages by Plasma from COVID-19 Patients Following BCG Vaccination: BATTLE Trial.

Purpose: To analyze the interfering effect of plasma from COVID-19 convalescent adults vaccinated or not with intradermal Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) on human macrophages.

Methods: The BATTLE clinical trial (NCT04369794) was initiated in the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to study the safety and efficacy of BCG revaccination of COVID-19 convalescent adults. We measured the expression induction of eleven COVID-19-related genes in human macrophages cultured in plasma taken from 22 BCG vaccinated and 17 placebo patients at baseline and 45 days post-intervention.

Effects of combined training on nonshivering thermogenic activity of muscles in individuals with overweight and type 2 diabetes.

Background: Increased thermogenic activity has shown to be a promising target for treating and preventing obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Little is known about the muscular influence on nonshivering thermogenesis (NST), and it remains unclear whether physical training and potential metabolic improvements could be associated with changes in this type of thermogenic activity.

Objective: The present study aimed to assess muscular NST activity in overweight and T2DM before and after a combined training period (strength training followed by aerobic exercise).

Digestion of whey peptide induces antioxidant and anti-inflammatory bioactivity on glial cells: Sequences identification and structural activity analysis.

Whey derived peptides have shown potential activity improving brain function in pathological condition. However, there is little information about their mechanism of action on glial cells, which have important immune functions in brain. Astrocytes and microglia are essential in inflammatory and oxidative defense that take place in neurodegenerative disease.

Angiopoietin2 is associated with coagulation activation and tissue factor expression in extracellular vesicles in COVID-19.

Coagulation activation in immunothrombosis involves various pathways distinct from classical hemostasis, offering potential therapeutic targets to control inflammation-induced hypercoagulability while potentially sparing hemostasis. The Angiopoietin/Tie2 pathway, previously linked to embryonic angiogenesis and sepsis-related endothelial barrier regulation, was recently associated with coagulation activation in sepsis and COVID-19. This study explores the connection between key mediators of the Angiopoietin/Tie2 pathway and coagulation activation.