A combination of circulating chemokines as biomarkers of obesity-induced insulin resistance at puberty

An Overview of Growth Factors as the Potential Link between Psoriasis and Metabolic Syndrome

Psoriasis is a chronic, complex, and immunologically mediated systemic disease that not only affects the skin, but also the joints and nails. It may coexist with various other disorders, such as depression, psoriatic arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. In particular, the potential link between psoriasis and metabolic syndrome is an issue worthy of attention. The dysregulation of growth factors could potentially contribute to the disturbances of keratinocyte proliferation, inflammation, and itch severity. However, the pathophysiology of psoriasis and its comorbidities, such as metabolic syndrome, remains incompletely elucidated. Growth factors and their abnormal metabolism may be a potential link connecting these conditions. Overall, the objective of this review is to analyze the role of growth factor disturbances in both psoriasis and metabolic syndrome.

Blood Lymphocyte Subsets and Proinflammatory Cytokine Profile in ROHHAD(NET) and non-ROHHAD(NET) Obese Individuals

Context

Rapid-onset obesity with central hypoventilation, hypothalamic dysfunction, and autonomic dysregulation with neural crest tumors (ROHHAD-NET) syndrome pathophysiology remains elusive. Acquired neuroimmunological dysfunction has been proposed as a possible pathogenetic pathway.

Objective

The aim of our study was to characterize lymphocyte subpopulations subsets in peripheral blood (PB) and to evaluate a panel of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines in ROHHAD(NET) patients vs controls.

Methods

We included 11 ROHHAD(NET) patients, 7 ROHHAD and 4 ROHHAD-NET, selected by clinical criteria. Controls were 11 simple obese children, matched for age and sex. Flow cytometric analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were performed on PB and serum samples of the 2 groups.

Results

Analysis revealed that T lymphocytes are significantly increased in ROHHAD(NET) patients (P = .04) with a prevalence of CD4-T cells (P = .03) and a lower number of activated CD8-T cells (P = .02). With regard to regulatory subset, patients displayed increased regulatory B cells (P = .05) and type-1 regulatory T cells (P = .03). With regard to CD8-T cells, a lower number of T effector memory was observed (P = .02). In contrast, among CD4-T cells, we found a higher number of T naive (P = .04) and T effector (P = .0008). Interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 were increased in patients vs controls (P = .008 and P = .01, respectively). Furthermore, IL-8 levels were higher in the subgroup with neural tumor (P = .0058) (ROHHAD-NET) than in patients without neural tumor (ROHHAD). Soluble HLA-G was significantly lower in patients vs controls (P = .03).

Conclusion

Our findings contribute to support the hypothesis of immune dysregulation, which may underlie this complex, often fatal disease. Because ROHHAD(NET) syndrome is an ultra-rare disease, multicentric studies are needed to improve the effect of our data in the management of this condition.

Neonatal cytokines associated with infant overweight and obesity at 1 year of age

OBJECTIVE

The incidence of childhood overweight and obesity has been increasing in recent years. Immune dysregulation has been demonstrated as a condition related to childhood obesity. Whether the neonatal immune status is related to infant overweight and obesity at 1 year of age is unclear.

METHODS

To explore the relationship between neonatal cytokines and infant overweight and obesity, we conducted a prospective study in Suzhou Municipal Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from 2015 to 2016. 514 neonates were recruited and their dried blood spots were collected after birth. Infants were grouped into normal size groups and overweight and obesity groups based on BMI at 1 year of age. 27 neonatal cytokines levels were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

370 infants were included in final analysis. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF), interleukin-17A (IL17A) and platelet derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) levels were independently associated with childhood overweight and obesity (OR =1.27, 95%CI 1.03, 1.57; OR =1.29, 95%CI: 1.06, 1.60; OR =0.69, 95%CI: 0.49, 0.96). Additionally, neonatal GCSF and IL17A levels were positively associated with increased BMI (β = 0.11, 95%CI: 0.02, 0.19; β = 0.07, 95%CI 0.01, 013) and BMI z-scores (β = 0.10, 95%CI: 0.02, 0.18; β = 0.06, 95%CI 0.01, 0.13). Neonatal PDGF-BB levels were negatively associated with BMI (β = -0.12, 95%CI: -0.23, -0.01) and BMI z-scores (β = -0.12, 95%CI: -0.23, -0.01). The inverse probability weighting (IPW) was performed to account for potential selection bias of this study, and the results were consistent with the above mentioned findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Neonatal GCSF, IL17A and PDGF-BB levels were correlated with infant overweight and obesity at 1 year of age, suggesting that early life immune status play a significant role of late obesity.

Swimming Suppresses Cognitive Decline of HFD-Induced Obese Mice through Reversing Hippocampal Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, and BDNF Level

Obesity is an important public health problem nowadays. Long-term obesity can trigger a series of chronic diseases and impair the learning and memory function of the brain. Current studies show that scientific exercise can effectively improve learning and memory capacity, which also can provide benefits for obese people. However, the underlying mechanisms for the improvement of cognitive capacity under the status of obesity still need to be further explored. In the present study, the obesity-induced cognition-declined model was established using 4-week-old mice continuously fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks, and then the model mice were subjected to an 8-week swimming intervention and corresponding evaluation of relevant indicators, including cognitive capacity, inflammation, insulin signal pathway, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF), and apoptosis, for exploring potential regulatory mechanisms. Compared with the mice fed with regular diets, the obese mice revealed the impairment of cognitive capacity; in contrast, swimming intervention ameliorated the decline in cognitive capacity of obese mice by reducing inflammatory factors, inhibiting the JNK/IRS-1/PI3K/Akt signal pathway, and activating the PGC-1α/BDNF signal pathway, thereby suppressing the apoptosis of neurons. Therefore, swimming may be an important interventional strategy to compensate for obesity-induced cognitive impairment.

Can Blood-Circulating Factors Unveil and Delay Your Biological Aging?

According to the World Health Organization, the population of over 60 will double in the next 30 years in the developed countries, which will enforce a further raise of the retirement age and increase the burden on the healthcare system. Therefore, there is an acute issue of maintaining health and prolonging active working longevity, as well as implementation of early monitoring and prevention of premature aging and age-related disorders to avoid early disability. Traditional indicators of biological age are not always informative and often require extensive and expensive analysis. The study of blood factors is a simple and easily accessible way to assess individual health and supplement the traditional indicators of a person's biological age with new objective criteria. With age, the processes of growth and development, tissue regeneration and repair decline; they are gradually replaced by enhanced catabolism, inflammatory cell activity, and insulin resistance. The number of senescent cells supporting the inflammatory loop rises; cellular clearance by autophagy and mitophagy slows down, resulting in mitochondrial and cellular damage and dysfunction. Monitoring of circulated blood factors not only reflects these processes, but also allows suggesting medical intervention to prevent or decelerate the development of age-related diseases. We review the age-related blood factors discussed in recent publications, as well as approaches to slowing aging for healthy and active longevity.

Insulin Resistance in Obese Children: What Can Metabolomics and Adipokine Modelling Contribute?

The evolution of obesity and its resulting comorbidities differs depending upon the age of the subject. The dramatic rise in childhood obesity has resulted in specific needs in defining obesity-associated entities with this disease. Indeed, even the definition of obesity differs for pediatric patients from that employed in adults. Regardless of age, one of the earliest metabolic complications observed in obesity involves perturbations in glucose metabolism that can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. In children, the incidence of type 2 diabetes is infrequent compared to that observed in adults, even with the same degree of obesity. In contrast, insulin resistance is reported to be frequently observed in children and adolescents with obesity. As this condition can be prerequisite to further metabolic complications, identification of biological markers as predictive risk factors would be of tremendous clinical utility. Analysis of obesity-induced modifications of the adipokine profile has been one classic approach in the identification of biomarkers. Recent studies emphasize the utility of metabolomics in the analysis of metabolic characteristics in children with obesity with or without insulin resistance. These studies have been performed with targeted or untargeted approaches, employing different methodologies. This review summarizes some of the advances in this field while emphasizing the importance of the different techniques employed.