Metabolic Disorders News and Research

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Decreased dietary diversity linked to reduced microbiotic richness

Changes in farming practices over the last 50 years have resulted in decreased agro-diversity which, in turn, has resulted in decreased dietary diversity. The significant impact of this change in dietary richness on human health is the topic of an insightful perspective in Molecular Metabolism by Mark Heiman, MicroBiome Therapeutics and Frank Greenway, Pennington Biomedical Research Center

15 Mar 2016

Excessive fat accumulation in lower extremities of children linked to insulin resistance, metabolic disorders

Children with a severe type of spina bifida called myelomeningocele have a high prevalence of obesity and excess fat accumulation in their lower extremities. In a study designed to assess bone, muscle and fat tissue distribution in the lower legs of children with this disease, researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles determined that this excess fat tissue is within the muscle boundary (muscle-associated) rather than subcutaneous.

15 Mar 2016

Scientists map biological networks of genes to gain new insights on disease mechanisms

Innovative software tools allowed the scientists to construct accurate "maps" of gene networks for about 400 different human cell and tissue types, ranging from immune cells to brain tissues, whereas previous studies were limited to just one or few tissues.

11 Mar 2016

Scientists explore new treatment avenues to protect obese individuals from cardiovascular disease

Fatness is clearly linked to cardiovascular disease, but scientists want to find why the unhealthy pair tend to go hand-in-hand and how to break up their relationship.

10 Mar 2016

Changes in gut bacteria strongly associated with PCOS-related obesity

Modifying gut bacteria could be a treatment option for some of the symptoms associated with the widespread disease polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), according to a recent study by San Diego State University researchers in collaboration with investigators from the University of California, San Diego.

8 Mar 2016

P53 genetic variant heavily implicated in metabolism, new research finds

The study may also provide an evolutionary explanation for differences in populations living farther away from the Equator. Human ancestors may have undergone this change in R72 to promote energy storage in cold climates and during times of famine. However, in modern society, the need for this type of variant in our genes is unnecessary, leading instead to increased risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Obesity is also a risk factor for certain types of cancer, so these findings may also explain why the R72 variant of p53 might predispose certain people to cancer.

4 Mar 2016

Inhibitors that activate brown fat may help treat diabetes, metabolic disorders

In recent decades, obesity has become a global problem. The disease goes hand in hand with a dramatic increase in the proportion of body fat. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and the Cologne Cluster of Excellence in Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases at the University of Cologne have now succeeded in inhibiting a protein in mice that hampers activation of the useful "brown fat" in obese mice. When treated with inhibitors against this protein, obese mice exhibited a notable improvement of their glucose metabolism.

2 Mar 2016

Rockefeller research reveals vital new component of system responsible for regulating food intake

The molecular intricacies of hunger and satiety, pivotal for understanding metabolic disorders and the problem of obesity, are not yet fully understood by scientists. However, new research from The Rockefeller University reveals an important new component of the system responsible for regulating food intake: a hormone called amylin, which acts in the brain to help control consumption.

27 Feb 2016

Findings offer new approach to treating metabolic disorders

A new research study has revealed an important relationship between proteins secreted by the heart and obesity, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance. The findings, published today in Obesity, offer a new approach to treating metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes, by targeting the pathway that controls the proteins' concentration in the blood.

18 Feb 2016

Shift from huts to cities has dramatically changed human exposure to certain microbes

The shift from living in jungle huts to cities has dramatically changed human exposure to certain microbes, which could have implications for healthy immune function, according to a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published online Feb. 12, 2016 in Science Advances.

15 Feb 2016

Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation leads to epigenetic changes in offspring

As the study shows, a high-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation leads to epigenetic changes in the offspring. These changes affect metabolic pathways regulated by the gut hormone GIP, whereby the adult offspring are more susceptible to obesity and insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes. Similar mechanisms cannot be ruled out in humans, according to Pfeiffer.

2 Feb 2016

Weekend junk food binges bad for your gut health

Yo-yoing between eating well during the week and bingeing on junk food over the weekend is likely to be just as bad for your gut health as a consistent diet of junk, new UNSW research suggests.

21 Jan 2016

Cancer concerns over chromium diet pills

Concerns have been raised over the long-term use of nutritional supplements containing chromium, after an Australian research team found the supplement is partially converted into a carcinogenic form when it enters cells.

12 Jan 2016

Jubilant Biosys, Sanofi partner to develop small molecule inhibitors in metabolic disorders therapeutic area

Jubilant Biosys Ltd, a Bengaluru-based subsidiary of Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd, and Sanofi Deutschland GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany, announced a strategic alliance to discover and develop small molecule inhibitors for multiple targets in the metabolic disorders therapeutic area.

7 Jan 2016

Bern study sheds light on the brain mechanism of arousal

Scientists from Bern have discovered a mechanism which is responsible for the rapid arousal from sleep and anesthesia in the brain. The results of their study suggest new strategies for the medical treatment of sleep disorders and recovery of consciousness in vegetative states.

22 Dec 2015

Yale researchers reveal why chronic overeating tied to increased risk of depression

Chronic overeating and stress are tied to an increased risk of depression and anxiety, and in a new study, Yale researchers explain why that happens and suggest a possible solution.

22 Dec 2015

Certain gut bacteria linked to type 2 diabetes, reveal Russian scientists

A group of Russian scientists, including Dr Elena Kostryukova, the Head of the Laboratory of Postgenomic Research in Biology of the Scientific Research Institute of Physical-Chemical Medicine and a researcher at MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), and Maria Vakhitova, an MIPT postgraduate student, has discovered that the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may be linked to the development of type 2 diabetes.

21 Dec 2015

Bile acid may help treat fatty liver disease and obesity

A bile acid that can turn off a receptor in the gut has prevented and reversed fatty liver disease in mice, according to an international team of researchers. The compound may help treat certain metabolic disorders, such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity, as well.

16 Dec 2015

NEK7 enzyme acts as on-off switch in innate immune system

UT Southwestern Medical Center and California researchers today provide the first report that an enzyme previously known solely for its role in cell division also acts as an on-off switch in the innate immune system -- the body's first defense against infection.

8 Dec 2015

Potential treatment strategy for glycogen storage disease

Researchers from the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore and Duke Medicine have identified a potential treatment strategy for an often-fatal inherited glycogen storage disease.

18 Nov 2015