Metabolism News and Research

Latest Metabolism News and Research

Chronic hyponatremia causes anxiety-like behaviors by disrupting brain chemistry

Hyponatremia, or low blood sodium concentration, is typically viewed as a symptomless condition-until recently.

12 Jun 2025

Blocking a single enzyme rewires limb regrowth in axolotls

Researchers uncovered how CYP26B1-mediated retinoic acid (RA) breakdown determines segment identity during axolotl limb regeneration. Disrupting RA degradation reprograms blastema cells, revealing the molecular controls of precise limb regrowth.

11 Jun 2025

New hypothesis links caffeine to lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome

After decades of stalled national progress in reducing the rate of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID), a category of infant mortality that includes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), researchers at Rutgers Health have proposed an unexpected solution: Caffeine might protect babies by preventing dangerous drops in oxygen that may trigger deaths.

11 Jun 2025

New therapeutic approach targets PCSK9 to regulate blood cholesterol levels

When the amount of cholesterol in the blood is too high, hypercholesterolemia can develop, causing serious damage to the arteries and cardiovascular health.

11 Jun 2025

Smelling food triggers fullness through newly found brain pathway

No more hunger after cooking? A newly identified network of nerve cells is responsible, a research group at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research has discovered in mice.

11 Jun 2025

Maternal iron deficiency disrupts embryonic sex determination in mice

Developmentally expressed genes play a fundamental role in the formation of a wide range of organs. The Y chromosome-located mammalian sex-determining gene Sry, required for the formation of testis, is activated only within a narrow time window during embryogenesis.

11 Jun 2025

Tufts researchers design new generation of weight loss medications

Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are used by over 15 million adults in the U.S., or 4.5% of the population. Despite their effectiveness, they have drawbacks.

11 Jun 2025

Targeting metabolic reprogramming in breast cancer treatment

Breast cancer remains the most prevalent malignancy among women worldwide, posing a critical challenge to global health.

11 Jun 2025

Uncovering the genetic link between type 2 diabetes and brain structure

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a highly prevalent metabolic disorder worldwide. Beyond glucose dysregulation, it exerts significant effects on the central nervous system.

11 Jun 2025

Scientists discover hundreds of new metabolites linked to the human microbiome

Human metabolism is a complex web of chemical processes and interactions between our cells and the microbes living within us.

10 Jun 2025

Is that evening glass of wine really good for your heart?

A comprehensive AHA review finds overwhelming evidence that heavy alcohol use increases cardiovascular disease risk, while the benefits of low-to-moderate drinking remain unproven and uncertain. The authors recommend prioritizing proven heart-healthy habits over alcohol for cardiovascular protection.

10 Jun 2025

Inhibiting cancer cells' energy source with natural acid ester

Looking to nature for answers to complex questions can reveal new and unprecedented results that can even affect cells on molecular levels.

10 Jun 2025

What happens to your body and mind during a five-day water fast?

A five-day water-only fast led to significant weight, fat, and lean muscle loss in middle-aged women, along with improved mood and marked changes in metabolic and inflammatory markers. The study also found that psychological traits like emotional intelligence and impulsivity influenced the amount of fat and muscle lost during fasting.

9 Jun 2025

Study offers new insights into how the body clears dead cells during stress

A new study from The University of Texas at Arlington details a novel strategy for how the body clears out dead cells during stress, revealing unexpected roles for well-known stress-response genes-a discovery that could help scientists better understand diseases affecting the immune system, brain and metabolism.

9 Jun 2025

Energy drain from antibiotics spurs bacteria to resist treatment faster

Antibiotics are supposed to wipe out bacteria, yet the drugs can sometimes hand microbes an unexpected advantage.

9 Jun 2025

New study warns of long-term risks from fecal microbiota transplants

Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) have been touted as a potential treatment for a variety of conditions, from inflammatory bowel diseases, obesity, and type 2 diabetes to autism.

6 Jun 2025

New study maps how cells allocate space to organelles during growth

Picture a living cell as if it were a city. If you were the urban planner for this (very little, very alive) city, one of the things you would have to decide is how to allocate space for different functional uses.

6 Jun 2025

Skin biomarkers may offer noninvasive diagnosis for pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis

A groundbreaking study led by National Jewish Health researchers suggests that the skin may serve as a potential biomarker for a chronic allergic disease of the esophagus called eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in children.

6 Jun 2025

Mitochondrial DNA variant predicts resistance to melanoma immunotherapy

Results from a new study help resolve the decade-long mystery of why many patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer do not respond to the latest cancer treatments.

6 Jun 2025

Healthy diet improves metabolism even without weight loss

Nearly one-third of people who adopted and adhered to a healthy diet did not lose any weight, but still reaped many health benefits, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Ben Gurion University, Israel.

6 Jun 2025