Saturday, November 26, 2011
Neuron Transplants Can Repair Brain Circuits
A new study by Harvard University neuroscientist Jeffrey Macklis and colleagues suggests it is possible to transplant fetal neurons into a part of the mouse brain that does not normally generate new brain cells, and they will repair abnormal circuits. In this case, the researchers repaired a genetic defect that causes obesity, but that was not the goal of their work which was to establish proof of principle that transplanted neurons can integrate into existing faulty brain circuits and restore them...
Sunday, November 20, 2011
New Weight-Loss Drug Reduces Body Weight in Monkeys, Mice
The new drug, called Adipotide, attacks white adipose tissue under the skin and around the abdomen
Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a drug that assaults the blood supply of fat cells and led to weight loss in obese rhesus monkeys.
Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., co-senior author of the study and professor in MD Anderson's David H. Koch Center for Applied Research for Genitourinary Cancers, along with Wadih Arap, M.D., co-senior author of the study and a professor in the Koch Center, and Kirstin Barnhart, D.V.M., Ph.D., veterinary clinical pathologist at MD Anderson's Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, have created a new weight-loss drug that could potentially reduce accumulated white fat in humans.
Currently, weight-loss drugs work to suppress the appetite or increase metabolism in order to combat obesity, but harmful side effects come with the use of such drugs.
Now, Pasqualini and Arap have designed a new drug called Adipotide, which attacks white adipose tissue. This tissue is an unhealthy kind of fat that accumulates around the abdomen and under the skin. Adipotide contains a homing agent that attaches to a protein on the surface of blood vessels that support the fat. A synthetic peptide then triggers cell death, and with a lack of blood supply, the fat cells are reabsorbed.
The drug was used in mice models and rhesus monkey models. Adipotide was able to decrease abdominal circumference, body mass index (BMI) and body fat...
Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a drug that assaults the blood supply of fat cells and led to weight loss in obese rhesus monkeys.
Renata Pasqualini, Ph.D., co-senior author of the study and professor in MD Anderson's David H. Koch Center for Applied Research for Genitourinary Cancers, along with Wadih Arap, M.D., co-senior author of the study and a professor in the Koch Center, and Kirstin Barnhart, D.V.M., Ph.D., veterinary clinical pathologist at MD Anderson's Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, have created a new weight-loss drug that could potentially reduce accumulated white fat in humans.
Currently, weight-loss drugs work to suppress the appetite or increase metabolism in order to combat obesity, but harmful side effects come with the use of such drugs.
Now, Pasqualini and Arap have designed a new drug called Adipotide, which attacks white adipose tissue. This tissue is an unhealthy kind of fat that accumulates around the abdomen and under the skin. Adipotide contains a homing agent that attaches to a protein on the surface of blood vessels that support the fat. A synthetic peptide then triggers cell death, and with a lack of blood supply, the fat cells are reabsorbed.
The drug was used in mice models and rhesus monkey models. Adipotide was able to decrease abdominal circumference, body mass index (BMI) and body fat...
A specific human enzyme may help tackle obesity and diabetes, if a new scientific report is to be believed.
In a new study, scientists have reported that they substantially curbed weight gain, improved metabolism, and improved the efficacy of insulin in mice by engineering them to express a specific human enzyme in their fat tissue.
Although the obesity prevention came at the significant cost of widespread inflammation, the research offers new clues about the connections among obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and inflammation.
"Turning on this molecule has a very dramatic impact on lipid metabolism," said Haiyan Xu, assistant professor of medicine (research) in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a researcher at Rhode Island Hospital's Hallett Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology.
In the study, the researchers changed the sequence of events for transgenically engineered mice by inducing inflammation via the enzyme IKKbeta in their fatty tissue before they were obese. The result for metabolism was much more positive than for control mice who were left unaltered but were fed the same diets...
In a new study, scientists have reported that they substantially curbed weight gain, improved metabolism, and improved the efficacy of insulin in mice by engineering them to express a specific human enzyme in their fat tissue.
Although the obesity prevention came at the significant cost of widespread inflammation, the research offers new clues about the connections among obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and inflammation.
"Turning on this molecule has a very dramatic impact on lipid metabolism," said Haiyan Xu, assistant professor of medicine (research) in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a researcher at Rhode Island Hospital's Hallett Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology.
In the study, the researchers changed the sequence of events for transgenically engineered mice by inducing inflammation via the enzyme IKKbeta in their fatty tissue before they were obese. The result for metabolism was much more positive than for control mice who were left unaltered but were fed the same diets...
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Metabolism Boosted By Enzyme, Weight Gain Prevented In Mice
Male and female mice engineered to express the inflammatory enzyme IKKbeta in their fat tissue ate more but gained less weight. They burned sugar and fat more effectively than mice who were left unaltered. The research may shed light on how obesity and inflammation affect insulin resistance and sensitivity.
In a new study, scientists report that they substantially curbed weight gain, improved metabolism, and improved the efficacy of insulin in mice by engineering them to express a specific human enzyme in their fat tissue. Although the obesity prevention came at the significant cost of widespread inflammation, the research offers new clues about the connections among obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and inflammation...
In a new study, scientists report that they substantially curbed weight gain, improved metabolism, and improved the efficacy of insulin in mice by engineering them to express a specific human enzyme in their fat tissue. Although the obesity prevention came at the significant cost of widespread inflammation, the research offers new clues about the connections among obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, and inflammation...
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Research Report: Hormone fights fat with fat
There are two types of body fat: white fat that stores energy and brown fat (packed with blood vessels and mitrochondria) that burns white fat. Long thought to disappear after infancy, brown fat has been rediscovered in adults humans using new imaging technology.
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute researchers now report the discovery of orexin; a hormone that activates calorie-burning brown fat in mice. Orexin deficiency is associated with obesity, suggesting that supplemental orexin could lead to a new class of fat-fighting drugs focused on peripheral fat-burning tissue rather than the brain’s appetite control center which is the aim of most current weight-loss agents...
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute researchers now report the discovery of orexin; a hormone that activates calorie-burning brown fat in mice. Orexin deficiency is associated with obesity, suggesting that supplemental orexin could lead to a new class of fat-fighting drugs focused on peripheral fat-burning tissue rather than the brain’s appetite control center which is the aim of most current weight-loss agents...
Microbes may be key to good health
Consider this: The average person's body contains about 100 trillion cells, but only maybe one in 10 is human.
This isn't the latest Hollywood horror flick, or some secret genetic engineering experiment run amok.
This, it turns out, is nature's way: The human cells that form our skin, eyes, ears, brain and every other part of our bodies are far outnumbered by those from microbes, primarily bacteria but also viruses, fungi and a panoply of other microorganisms.
That thought might make a lot of people lunge for the hand sanitizer, at the least. But that predictable impulse may be exactly the wrong one. A growing body of evidence indicates that the microbial ecosystems that have long populated our guts, mouths, noses and every other nook and cranny play crucial roles in keeping us healthy.
Moreover, researchers are becoming more convinced that modern trends -- diet, antibiotics, obsession with cleanliness, Caesarean delivery of babies --- are disrupting this delicate balance, contributing to some of the most perplexing ailments, including asthma, allergies, obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, cancer and perhaps even autism.
"In terms of potential for human health, I would place it with stem cells as one of the two most promising areas of research at the moment," said Rob Knight of the University of Colorado. "Everywhere we look, microbes seem to be involved."
Equipped with super-fast new DNA decoders, scientists are accelerating the exploration of this realm at a molecular level, yielding provocative insights into how these microbial stowaways may wield far greater powers than previously appreciated in, paradoxically, making us human.
"The field has exploded," said Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University, who pioneered the exploration of humanity's microbial inhabitants, known as the "microbiome" or "microbiota." "People have this sense of wonderment about looking at themselves as a compilation of microbial and human parts."
Some equate these microbial inhabitants to a newly recognized organ. Acquired beginning at birth, this mass of fellow travelers may help steer normal development, molding immune systems and calibrating fundamental metabolic functions such as energy storage and consumption. There are even tantalizing clues they may help shape brain development, influencing behavior.
"The 'human supraorganism' is one term coined to describe the human host and all the attendant microorganisms," said Lita Proctor, who leads the Human Microbiome Project at the National Institutes of Health, which is mapping this world. "There's been a real revolution in thinking about what that means."
Investigators are trying to identify which organisms may truly be beneficial "probiotics" that people could take to help their health. Others are finding substances that people might ingest to nurture the good bugs. Drugs may mimic the helpful compounds that these organisms produce.
Doctors have even begun microbiota "transplants" to treat a host of illnesses, including a sometimes-devastating gastrointestinal infection called C. difficile, digestive system ailments such as Crohn's disease, colitis and irritable bowel disorder, and even in a handful of cases obesity and other afflictions, such as multiple sclerosis.
Many advocates of the research urge caution, noting that most of the work so far has involved laboratory animals or small numbers of patients, many hypotheses remain far from proven and nothing has zero risk.
"We have to be very careful in how we state what we know at the present time versus what we think might be true at this point," said David Relman of Stanford University. "But it's probably fair to say that our indigenous communities are more diverse, more complex and more intimately and intricately involved in our biology than we thought."
Scientists have long known that many organisms evolved with humans and perform vital functions, digesting food, extracting crucial nutrients, fighting off disease-causing entities.
But as microbiologists have begun scrutinizing these colonies, it has become clearer that they create carefully calibrated enterprises, with unique combinations inhabiting individual crevices and identifiable nuances from person to person.
European scientists reported in April that people generally seem to have one of three basic combinations that may be as fundamentally important as, say, blood type.
The five-year, $175 million U.S. Human Microbiome Project is assembling an outline of a "healthy" microbiome by sampling the mouth, airway, skin, gut and urogenital tract of 300 healthy adults, as well as deciphering the genetic codes of 200 possibly key microbes.
Dozens of studies are also underway, including some that are repeatedly swabbing kids and adults, including twins, to gain insights into why one person gets tooth decay, asthma, ulcerative colitis or even cancer, and another doesn't.
One intriguing finding is that babies born through Caesarean sections apparently miss out on acquiring their mothers' microbiota.
"The birth canal is very heavily colonized by bacteria," said Maria Dominguez-Bello, a University of Puerto Rico biologist who has been studying microbiota around the world, including in isolated tribes in the Amazon. "We think that is not by chance."
The interaction between the microbiota and the immune system may also play a role in other diseases in adults, including those caused at least in part by chronic inflammation from hyperactive immune systems.
"Gut bacteria have figured out a way to network with our immune system so it doesn't attack them," said Sarkis Mazmanian of the California Institute of Technology.
The microbiota apparently sends signals that dampen the "inflammatory response," a crucial defense also believed to play a role in a variety of diseases, including many forms of cancer, the "metabolic syndrome" caused by obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The theory is that one reason some people may be prone to these diseases is that they are missing certain microbes. One anti-inflammatory compound produced by a bacterium appears to cure the equivalent of colitis and multiple sclerosis in mice, both of which are caused by misfiring immune systems, Mazmanian found.
Similarly, studies indicate that gut dwellers secrete messengers to cells lining the digestive tract to modulate key hormones, such as leptin and ghrelin, which are players in regulating metabolism, hunger and a sense of fullness.
Obese people appear to have a distinctive mix of digestive bacteria that make them prone to weight gain. Thin mice get fatter when their microbiota is replaced with the microbes of obese animals.
"Our ancient microbiome is losing the equilibrium it used to have with the host -- us -- and that has profound physiological consequences," said Martin Blaser of the New York University School of Medicine, who published his concerns in an August paper in the journal Nature.
Intriguing clues are also emerging about how microbes may affect the brain. Manipulating gut microbiomes of mice influences their anxiety and activity, Swedish researchers reported in January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...
This isn't the latest Hollywood horror flick, or some secret genetic engineering experiment run amok.
This, it turns out, is nature's way: The human cells that form our skin, eyes, ears, brain and every other part of our bodies are far outnumbered by those from microbes, primarily bacteria but also viruses, fungi and a panoply of other microorganisms.
That thought might make a lot of people lunge for the hand sanitizer, at the least. But that predictable impulse may be exactly the wrong one. A growing body of evidence indicates that the microbial ecosystems that have long populated our guts, mouths, noses and every other nook and cranny play crucial roles in keeping us healthy.
Moreover, researchers are becoming more convinced that modern trends -- diet, antibiotics, obsession with cleanliness, Caesarean delivery of babies --- are disrupting this delicate balance, contributing to some of the most perplexing ailments, including asthma, allergies, obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, cancer and perhaps even autism.
"In terms of potential for human health, I would place it with stem cells as one of the two most promising areas of research at the moment," said Rob Knight of the University of Colorado. "Everywhere we look, microbes seem to be involved."
Equipped with super-fast new DNA decoders, scientists are accelerating the exploration of this realm at a molecular level, yielding provocative insights into how these microbial stowaways may wield far greater powers than previously appreciated in, paradoxically, making us human.
"The field has exploded," said Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University, who pioneered the exploration of humanity's microbial inhabitants, known as the "microbiome" or "microbiota." "People have this sense of wonderment about looking at themselves as a compilation of microbial and human parts."
Some equate these microbial inhabitants to a newly recognized organ. Acquired beginning at birth, this mass of fellow travelers may help steer normal development, molding immune systems and calibrating fundamental metabolic functions such as energy storage and consumption. There are even tantalizing clues they may help shape brain development, influencing behavior.
"The 'human supraorganism' is one term coined to describe the human host and all the attendant microorganisms," said Lita Proctor, who leads the Human Microbiome Project at the National Institutes of Health, which is mapping this world. "There's been a real revolution in thinking about what that means."
Investigators are trying to identify which organisms may truly be beneficial "probiotics" that people could take to help their health. Others are finding substances that people might ingest to nurture the good bugs. Drugs may mimic the helpful compounds that these organisms produce.
Doctors have even begun microbiota "transplants" to treat a host of illnesses, including a sometimes-devastating gastrointestinal infection called C. difficile, digestive system ailments such as Crohn's disease, colitis and irritable bowel disorder, and even in a handful of cases obesity and other afflictions, such as multiple sclerosis.
Many advocates of the research urge caution, noting that most of the work so far has involved laboratory animals or small numbers of patients, many hypotheses remain far from proven and nothing has zero risk.
"We have to be very careful in how we state what we know at the present time versus what we think might be true at this point," said David Relman of Stanford University. "But it's probably fair to say that our indigenous communities are more diverse, more complex and more intimately and intricately involved in our biology than we thought."
Scientists have long known that many organisms evolved with humans and perform vital functions, digesting food, extracting crucial nutrients, fighting off disease-causing entities.
But as microbiologists have begun scrutinizing these colonies, it has become clearer that they create carefully calibrated enterprises, with unique combinations inhabiting individual crevices and identifiable nuances from person to person.
European scientists reported in April that people generally seem to have one of three basic combinations that may be as fundamentally important as, say, blood type.
The five-year, $175 million U.S. Human Microbiome Project is assembling an outline of a "healthy" microbiome by sampling the mouth, airway, skin, gut and urogenital tract of 300 healthy adults, as well as deciphering the genetic codes of 200 possibly key microbes.
Dozens of studies are also underway, including some that are repeatedly swabbing kids and adults, including twins, to gain insights into why one person gets tooth decay, asthma, ulcerative colitis or even cancer, and another doesn't.
One intriguing finding is that babies born through Caesarean sections apparently miss out on acquiring their mothers' microbiota.
"The birth canal is very heavily colonized by bacteria," said Maria Dominguez-Bello, a University of Puerto Rico biologist who has been studying microbiota around the world, including in isolated tribes in the Amazon. "We think that is not by chance."
The interaction between the microbiota and the immune system may also play a role in other diseases in adults, including those caused at least in part by chronic inflammation from hyperactive immune systems.
"Gut bacteria have figured out a way to network with our immune system so it doesn't attack them," said Sarkis Mazmanian of the California Institute of Technology.
The microbiota apparently sends signals that dampen the "inflammatory response," a crucial defense also believed to play a role in a variety of diseases, including many forms of cancer, the "metabolic syndrome" caused by obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The theory is that one reason some people may be prone to these diseases is that they are missing certain microbes. One anti-inflammatory compound produced by a bacterium appears to cure the equivalent of colitis and multiple sclerosis in mice, both of which are caused by misfiring immune systems, Mazmanian found.
Similarly, studies indicate that gut dwellers secrete messengers to cells lining the digestive tract to modulate key hormones, such as leptin and ghrelin, which are players in regulating metabolism, hunger and a sense of fullness.
Obese people appear to have a distinctive mix of digestive bacteria that make them prone to weight gain. Thin mice get fatter when their microbiota is replaced with the microbes of obese animals.
"Our ancient microbiome is losing the equilibrium it used to have with the host -- us -- and that has profound physiological consequences," said Martin Blaser of the New York University School of Medicine, who published his concerns in an August paper in the journal Nature.
Intriguing clues are also emerging about how microbes may affect the brain. Manipulating gut microbiomes of mice influences their anxiety and activity, Swedish researchers reported in January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...
Researchers Discover New Gene that Encodes for Diabetes Resistance
esearchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have identified a gene that may be responsible for determining an individual's susceptibility to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The study, which lasted over a decade, identified a gene in obese mice that controls a protein called tomosyn-2 - a compound responsible for decreased insulin production in pancreatic beta cells.
When insulin production in the pancreas is reduced diabetes can follow. Insulin is released into the bloodstream where it allows cells to absorb sugar and use it for energy. Individuals with Type 1 diabetes are insulin-deficient while those with Type 2 diabetes are insulin-resistant. Both forms of the disease cause significant complications, especially if it goes unmanaged.
The newly-discovered gene was found to affect insulin production in obese mice by reducing the activity of the protein tomosyn-2. While the gene can be controlled in mice, researchers will need to conduct further studies to determine whether medications that target the protein can be developed for humans.
"It's too early for us to know how relevant this gene will be to human diabetes, but the concept of negative regulation is one of the most interesting things to come out of this study and that very likely applies to humans," says Alan Attie, head of the study and biochemistry professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The research team specifically used obese mice because they need more insulin to normalize blood glucose levels, especially after a meal, and humans have similar insulin needs. Being overweight requires more insulin to simply keep blood sugar levels regulated...
When insulin production in the pancreas is reduced diabetes can follow. Insulin is released into the bloodstream where it allows cells to absorb sugar and use it for energy. Individuals with Type 1 diabetes are insulin-deficient while those with Type 2 diabetes are insulin-resistant. Both forms of the disease cause significant complications, especially if it goes unmanaged.
The newly-discovered gene was found to affect insulin production in obese mice by reducing the activity of the protein tomosyn-2. While the gene can be controlled in mice, researchers will need to conduct further studies to determine whether medications that target the protein can be developed for humans.
"It's too early for us to know how relevant this gene will be to human diabetes, but the concept of negative regulation is one of the most interesting things to come out of this study and that very likely applies to humans," says Alan Attie, head of the study and biochemistry professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The research team specifically used obese mice because they need more insulin to normalize blood glucose levels, especially after a meal, and humans have similar insulin needs. Being overweight requires more insulin to simply keep blood sugar levels regulated...
Estrogen Works in Brain To Regulate Female Weight
Estrogen regulates energy output, appetite and body weight, and insufficient estrogen receptors in certain regions of the brain may lead to obesity, according to a recent mouse study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
“Estrogen has a profound effect on metabolism,” said Dr. Deborah Clegg, associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study. “We hadn’t previously thought of sex hormones as being critical regulators of food intake and body weight.”
The research is the first to demonstrate that estrogen works through two hypothalamic neural centers in the brain to regulate hunger and energy expenditure, keeping female body weight in check.
Female mice without the estrogen receptor alpha – a molecule that sends estrogen signals to neurons – in those parts of the brain became obese and developed related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.
These results were not replicated in male mice, although scientists believe other unknown estrogen receptor sites in the brain play a similar role in regulating male metabolism as well.
Although estrogen receptors are located throughout the body, researchers pinpointed two specific populations of estrogen receptors that seem to regulate energy balance for female mice...
“Estrogen has a profound effect on metabolism,” said Dr. Deborah Clegg, associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study. “We hadn’t previously thought of sex hormones as being critical regulators of food intake and body weight.”
The research is the first to demonstrate that estrogen works through two hypothalamic neural centers in the brain to regulate hunger and energy expenditure, keeping female body weight in check.
Female mice without the estrogen receptor alpha – a molecule that sends estrogen signals to neurons – in those parts of the brain became obese and developed related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.
These results were not replicated in male mice, although scientists believe other unknown estrogen receptor sites in the brain play a similar role in regulating male metabolism as well.
Although estrogen receptors are located throughout the body, researchers pinpointed two specific populations of estrogen receptors that seem to regulate energy balance for female mice...
Omega-3 key in reducing diabetes and heart disease
Omega-3 can help to reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease especially as people age, says Massey University nutrition professor Bernhard Breier, co-author of a new international study.
Professor Breier, who leads an international research team, says omega-3s are especially beneficial for health in ageing because they improve carbohydrate and fat metabolism.
His research found a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids helps to burn metabolic fuels (glucose and fat) better, and can regulate energy storage across different tissues. This is despite genetic factors that predispose some people to gain weight more easily, making them potentially more susceptible to conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
“These findings are important because the ageing process is closely linked with a higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome – a clustering of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and obesity,” says Professor Breier, Chair of Human Nutrition at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Albany.
He says omega-3 fatty acids have been found to stimulate the process known as the insulin signalling cascade, which improves how blood sugar is used in the body. Researchers from Germany, Australia and New Zealand carried out tests on mice, examining the effects of feeding omega-3 rich diets to two groups with distinct, genetically determined traits to model different body types and metabolic responses of humans. One group developed obesity more easily and the second was a leaner variety.
When scientists measured changes to the metabolic responses, results showed the omega-3 rich diet reduced cholesterol and improved insulin action and fat metabolism in both groups of mice. However, the obesity prone mice responded less well than the leaner variety, drawing attention to genetically determined pathways that contribute to obesity...
Professor Breier, who leads an international research team, says omega-3s are especially beneficial for health in ageing because they improve carbohydrate and fat metabolism.
His research found a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids helps to burn metabolic fuels (glucose and fat) better, and can regulate energy storage across different tissues. This is despite genetic factors that predispose some people to gain weight more easily, making them potentially more susceptible to conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
“These findings are important because the ageing process is closely linked with a higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome – a clustering of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and obesity,” says Professor Breier, Chair of Human Nutrition at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Albany.
He says omega-3 fatty acids have been found to stimulate the process known as the insulin signalling cascade, which improves how blood sugar is used in the body. Researchers from Germany, Australia and New Zealand carried out tests on mice, examining the effects of feeding omega-3 rich diets to two groups with distinct, genetically determined traits to model different body types and metabolic responses of humans. One group developed obesity more easily and the second was a leaner variety.
When scientists measured changes to the metabolic responses, results showed the omega-3 rich diet reduced cholesterol and improved insulin action and fat metabolism in both groups of mice. However, the obesity prone mice responded less well than the leaner variety, drawing attention to genetically determined pathways that contribute to obesity...
Antibiotics Could Be Driving Up Obesity
The human gut is home to a galaxy of bacteria thought to protect us from disease in the digestive tract and beyond. So what happens when we take antibiotics?
Sure, the pills can wipe out bad bacteria. But they also kill the good stuff. On top of fueling a rise in antibiotic-resistant superbugs, they could be permanently changing the gut environment — a feat some experts fear might be making us fat.
Dr. Martin Blaser of New York University Langone Medical Center studies the effects of antibiotics on Helicobacter pylori — a bacterium that lives quietly in most but leads to ulcers in some.
Although the majority of H. pylori infections are harmless, doctors are quick to treat them with antibiotics that change the way the stomach works.
“Antibiotics are miraculous,” Blaser told ABCNews.com in August after publishing an editorial on antibiotic overuse. “They’ve changed health and medicine over the last 70 years. But when doctors prescribe antibiotics, it is based on the belief that there are no long-term effects. We’ve seen evidence that suggests antibiotics may permanently change the beneficial bacteria that we’re carrying.”
Blaser discussed his latest research with the New York Times, explaining that antibiotics for H. pylori trick the body into eating more by disrupting hunger hormone levels. Indeed, mice given antibiotics get fatter than their untreated counterparts despite having the same diet, Blaser said.
The findings add weight to studies that have found differences in gut bacteria between lean and obese mice. Changes in gut bacteria – called the microbiome – could also be a risk factor for allergies, asthma and diabetes...
Sure, the pills can wipe out bad bacteria. But they also kill the good stuff. On top of fueling a rise in antibiotic-resistant superbugs, they could be permanently changing the gut environment — a feat some experts fear might be making us fat.
Dr. Martin Blaser of New York University Langone Medical Center studies the effects of antibiotics on Helicobacter pylori — a bacterium that lives quietly in most but leads to ulcers in some.
Although the majority of H. pylori infections are harmless, doctors are quick to treat them with antibiotics that change the way the stomach works.
“Antibiotics are miraculous,” Blaser told ABCNews.com in August after publishing an editorial on antibiotic overuse. “They’ve changed health and medicine over the last 70 years. But when doctors prescribe antibiotics, it is based on the belief that there are no long-term effects. We’ve seen evidence that suggests antibiotics may permanently change the beneficial bacteria that we’re carrying.”
Blaser discussed his latest research with the New York Times, explaining that antibiotics for H. pylori trick the body into eating more by disrupting hunger hormone levels. Indeed, mice given antibiotics get fatter than their untreated counterparts despite having the same diet, Blaser said.
The findings add weight to studies that have found differences in gut bacteria between lean and obese mice. Changes in gut bacteria – called the microbiome – could also be a risk factor for allergies, asthma and diabetes...
Red wine has health benefits for obese men, study finds
For the first time, a study has proved that the active ingredient in red wine does make obese men significantly healthier.
“I was happily surprised with the findings,” lead author Patrick Schrauwen told the Star on Tuesday.
“The results were above expectations.”
After 30 days in a random, double-blind study, the obese men who were given 150 milligrams a day of resveratrol showed all the health benefits that come with a calorie-reduced diet and endurance training, Schrauwen said.
Their systolic blood pressure was lower, their mean arterial pressure fell, the fat levels in their livers and muscles dropped and their energy metabolism improved significantly, the study said.
Previous studies on mice showed health benefits from resveratrol, found in red wine and grapes...
“I was happily surprised with the findings,” lead author Patrick Schrauwen told the Star on Tuesday.
“The results were above expectations.”
After 30 days in a random, double-blind study, the obese men who were given 150 milligrams a day of resveratrol showed all the health benefits that come with a calorie-reduced diet and endurance training, Schrauwen said.
Their systolic blood pressure was lower, their mean arterial pressure fell, the fat levels in their livers and muscles dropped and their energy metabolism improved significantly, the study said.
Previous studies on mice showed health benefits from resveratrol, found in red wine and grapes...
Drug Devised to Reduce Obesity
Journal Science Translational Medicine published research has revealed that the US researchers have devised a drug, Adipotide, which has proved success among obese monkeys and mice.
Co-Lead researcher, Professor Renata Pasqualini was of the view that before experimenting drug on rhesus monkeys, they conducted experiment on obese mice. It was found that mice were able to lose 30% of their body weight.
It was only after the success of pre-clinical testing that they decided to have clinical test on rhesus monkeys. After the drug was given to them, it was found that they were able to reduce 11% of their body weight, and also reduced their increased waist line and their BMI also declined...
Co-Lead researcher, Professor Renata Pasqualini was of the view that before experimenting drug on rhesus monkeys, they conducted experiment on obese mice. It was found that mice were able to lose 30% of their body weight.
It was only after the success of pre-clinical testing that they decided to have clinical test on rhesus monkeys. After the drug was given to them, it was found that they were able to reduce 11% of their body weight, and also reduced their increased waist line and their BMI also declined...
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