Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: Secretion of GH, a pituitary and anabolic hormone that reduces visceral fat, is diminished in obese or elderly subjects. The reduced GH may induce visceral fat accumulation and subsequently accelerate metabolic syndrome in these population. In the present study, we sought the effect of chronic GH supplement on visceral fat and glucose metabolism in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice.Methods and results: Male obese mice (C57BL/6, 12 weeks old) unde...

Introduction: Obesity is characterized by an expanded and chronically inflamed adipose tissue (AT). The galectin (Gal) family of proteins exerts a variety of activities, including regulation of inflammation and adipogenesis.Methods: We used RT-PCR, ELISA and flow cytometry to evaluate regulation of expression and production of 4 members of the Gal family – Gal1, Gal3, Gal9 and Gal12 – in visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissue of m...

Increasing evidences indicate that brown adipose tissue (BAT) functional activity is reduced during obesity. The nature of this deficit in BAT function, however, is still poorly understood. To analyze whether insulin function in the BAT is altered during obesity, we studied the in vivo metabolic activity of BAT by PET/CT imaging and euglycaemic hyperinsulinemic clamp in lean and diet-induced obese mice. Three groups of mice were analyzed after administration of different diet ...

The growing epidemic of obesity has led health professionals to understand the pathophysiology of obesity and its complications. Gut microbiota are of special interest, since some kinds of microbiota such as Bacteroides are less in obese persons and some microbiota induce obesity in animals by effective fat storage through microbiota-mediated intestinal Fiaf (Fasting-induced adipose factor) suppressions. Recently, bile acid-binding resins (BARs), non-absorbable drug for dyslip...

Introduction: It is critical to consider species differences in translating the findings of obesity-model animals into human pathophysiology. Leptin plays an important role in regulating energy homeostasis. Although much has been learned from genetically obese leptin deficient Lepob/Lepob mice, some flaws were noted in mice as animal models for human diabetes.Methods: To develop a rat leptin-deficient mod...

Context: Alterations in white adipose tissue (WAT) function, including changes in extracellular matrix (ECM) composition, play an important role in conditions of both weight gain and loss.Objective: We set out to identify novel genes regulated by obesity and cancer cachexia in human scWAT with potential roles for adipocyte function and/or tissue remodelling.Design Candidate genes were selected by overlapping previously published gl...