The role of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue measurements and their ratio by magnetic resonance imaging in subjects with prediabetes, diabetes and healthy controls from a general population without cardiovascular disease.

Objective: To study the relationship of area- and volumetric-based visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT and SAT) by MRI and their ratio in subjects with impaired glucose metabolism from the general population.

Methods: Subjects from a population-based cohort with established prediabetes, diabetes and healthy controls without prior cardiovascular diseases underwent 3 T MRI. VAT and SAT were assessed as total volume and area on a single slice, and their ratio (VAT/SAT) was calculated.

Angiopoietin-like protein 4 is an exercise-induced hepatokine in humans, regulated by glucagon and cAMP.

Objective: Angiopoietin-like protein-4 (ANGPTL4) is a circulating protein that is highly expressed in liver and implicated in regulation of plasma triglyceride levels. Systemic ANGPTL4 increases during prolonged fasting and is suggested to be secreted from skeletal muscle following exercise.

Methods: We investigated the origin of exercise-induced ANGPTL4 in humans by measuring the arterial-to-venous difference over the leg and the hepato-splanchnic bed during an acute bout of exercise.

Pancreatic fat content by magnetic resonance imaging in subjects with prediabetes, diabetes, and controls from a general population without cardiovascular disease.

Background/objective: Despite the relevance of pancreatic fat content in the development of metabolic diseases, its association with impaired glucose metabolism, diabetes, and other adipose tissue compartments remains unclear. Thus, we determined differences in pancreatic fat content by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between subjects with prediabetes, diabetes, and normal controls in a cohort from the general population.

Methods: Subjects without history of cardiovascular disease with established diabetes or prediabetes as well as normal controls were included and underwent whole-body MRI on a 3T scanner.

Do diabetes and obesity affect the metabolic response to exercise?

Purpose Of Review: Exercise is recommended as therapeutic intervention for people at risk to develop type 2 diabetes to prevent or treat the disease. Recent studies on the influence of obesity and type 2 diabetes on the outcome of exercise programs are discussed.

Recent Findings: Poor glycemic control before an intervention can be a risk factor of reduced therapeutic benefit from exercise.

Uric acid as a novel biomarker for bone-marrow function and incipient hematopoietic reconstitution after aplasia in patients with hematologic malignancies.

Purpose: Prolonged aplasia and graft failure (GF) represent life-threatening complications after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) requiring suitable biomarkers for early detection and differentiation between GF and poor graft function (PGF). Uric acid (UA) is a strong immunological danger signal.

Methods: Laboratory results were analyzed from patients undergoing either allogeneic or autologous HCT or induction chemotherapy for acute leukemia (n = 50 per group, n = 150 total).

Sustained Treatment with Insulin Detemir in Mice Alters Brain Activity and Locomotion.

Aims: Recent studies have identified unique brain effects of insulin detemir (Levemir®). Due to its pharmacologic properties, insulin detemir may reach higher concentrations in the brain than regular insulin. This might explain the observed increased brain stimulation after acute insulin detemir application but it remained unclear whether chronic insulin detemir treatment causes alterations in brain activity as a consequence of overstimulation.

Neuromagnetic signatures of syllable processing in fetuses and infants provide no evidence for habituation.

Background: Habituation, as a basic form of learning, is characterized by decreasing amplitudes of neuronal reaction following repeated stimuli. Recent studies indicate that habituation to pure tones of different frequencies occurs in fetuses and infants.

Aims: Neural processing of different syllables in fetuses and infants was investigated.

The brain response to peripheral insulin declines with age: a contribution of the blood-brain barrier?

Objectives: It is a matter of debate whether impaired insulin action originates from a defect at the neural level or impaired transport of the hormone into the brain. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of aging on insulin concentrations in the periphery and the central nervous system as well as its impact on insulin-dependent brain activity.

Methods: Insulin, glucose and albumin concentrations were determined in 160 paired human serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples.

Cinnamon extract improves insulin sensitivity in the brain and lowers liver fat in mouse models of obesity.

Objectives: Treatment of diabetic subjects with cinnamon demonstrated an improvement in blood glucose concentrations and insulin sensitivity but the underlying mechanisms remained unclear. This work intends to elucidate the impact of cinnamon effects on the brain by using isolated astrocytes, and an obese and diabetic mouse model.

Methods: Cinnamon components (eugenol, cinnamaldehyde) were added to astrocytes and liver cells to measure insulin signaling and glycogen synthesis.

Phosphorylation of serine 1137/1138 of mouse insulin receptor substrate (IRS) 2 regulates cAMP-dependent binding to 14-3-3 proteins and IRS2 protein degradation.

Insulin receptor substrate (IRS) 2 as intermediate docking platform transduces the insulin/IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor 1) signal to intracellular effector molecules that regulate glucose homeostasis, β-cell growth, and survival. Previously, IRS2 has been identified as a 14-3-3 interaction protein. 14-3-3 proteins can bind their target proteins via phosphorylated serine/threonine residues located within distinct motifs.