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Tsukuba, Japan Liver disease, from metabolic and bacterial causes, is a growing concern. What connects these dots? The gut, or more specifically, bacteria in the gut. Bacteria that cause inflammation in the mouth are transported through the digestive tract to the gut and liver, where they can cause liver inflammation. Lipopolysaccharides, important structural molecules in some bacteria, act as endotoxins, producing systemic effects that can manifest as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Now, a multidisciplinary team from the University of Tsukuba show that exercise could be used to improve the oral environment in people with NAFLD, potentially leading to a new treatment for the disease.
Credit: Kim Ratliff, Augusta University
Augusta University has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help support the graduate education of future scientists whose focus is cardiometabolic diseases like hypertension and diabetes which disproportionally affect minorities.
The training grant (1HL155011-01A1) will support four graduate students in its first year, and scale up to six students per year by year four of the five-year grant. It will offer aspiring PhDs and MD/PhDs the opportunity to learn from 43 federally funded scientists focusing on different aspects of cardometabolic disease related to minority health. Student recruitment has just started.
Credit: Ulf Sirborn
Good cholesterol, which is transported in HDLs (high-density lipoproteins), plays a key part in the prevention of atherosclerosis and thus the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, according to a new paper co-authored by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and published in the journal
Circulation, the anti-inflammatory properties of HDLs could be an even better biomarker for future cardiovascular events.
Atherosclerosis is considered a chronic local inflammation that leads to plaques in the blood vessels and that, if left untreated, can cause cardiovascular disease, the most common cause of death in the world.
The inflammation, while unnoticeable, can cause considerable damage to the blood vessels, so it is important to identify at-risk individuals as early as possible to curb progression of the disease.
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IMAGE: Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that a calorie labelled is not the same as a calorie digested and absorbed, when the food source is almonds.
The findings. view more
Credit: University of Toronto
Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that a calorie labelled is not the same as a calorie digested and absorbed, when the food source is almonds.
The findings should help alleviate concerns that almonds contribute to weight gain, which persist despite the widely recognized benefits of nuts as a plant-based source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Nuts have generally been thought of as healthy the last two decades, but the messaging around nuts has often come with a disclaimer that they are high in fat and energy, said John Sievenpiper, principal investigator on the study and an associate professor in the departments of nutritional sciences and medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
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BOSTON - (April 12, 2021) - A new source of energy expending brown fat cells has been uncovered by researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center, which they say points towards potential new therapeutic options for obesity. According to the new report, published today by
Nature Metabolism, the key lies in the expression of a receptor called Trpv1 (temperature-sensitive ion channel transient receptor potential cation subfamily V member 1) a protein known to sense noxious stimuli, including pain and temperature.
Specifically, the authors point to smooth muscle cells expressing the Trpv1 receptor and identify them as a novel source of energy-burning brown fat cells (adipocytes). This should translate into increased overall energy expenditure - and ultimately, researchers hope, reduced weight.