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Smith HJ. An ethical investigation into the microbiome: the intersection of agriculture, genetics, and the obesity epidemic. Gut Microbes 2020; 12:1760712. [PMID: 32432992 PMCID: PMC7524164 DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2020.1760712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
There is growing evidence of the interconnectivity between animals, humans, and the environment, which has manifested in the One Health perspective that takes all three into account for a more comprehensive vision of health. Over the past century, agriculture has become increasingly industrialized with a particular rise in the amount of livestock raised and meat produced. In order to fulfill such market demands, livestock farmers and agricultural corporations have artificially selected for and bred their cash animals to be more and more metabolically efficient via genetic and human-driven means. However, by selecting for more metabolically efficient animals, we may have inadvertently been selecting for obesogenic gut microbiota. This is further compounded by the potential obesogenic and microbiome-altering role antibiotics play in livestock. Evidence suggests that there is the potential for interspecies gut microbe transmissibility. It is notable that there has been a concurrent multispecies obesity epidemic across the same timeframe, which raises questions about potential connections between these epidemics. If it is the case that humans have inadvertently influenced their own obesity epidemic via the artificial selection of and antibiotic administration to livestock, then this holds significant ethical implications. This analysis considers current meat consumption trends, the impacts of livestock on climate change, and animal ethics. The paper concludes that due to the potential significant impact yet tenuous nature of the evidence on this subject stemming from research silos, there is a definitive ethical impetus for researchers to bridge these silos to better understand the true nature of the issue. This case is emblematic of an overarching ethics-driven need for deeper collaboration between isolated but related research disciplines to better characterize issues of public health relevance. It also raises concerns regarding inherent value-driven strife that may arise between competing One Health domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hunter Jackson Smith
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD, USA,Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Baltimore, MD, USA,CONTACT Hunter Jackson Smith Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Fan H, Chen S, Gao B, Ding S, Zhao Q, Li C, Asakawa T. Risk analysis of systemic levels of estrogen and adipokines as well as estrogen receptors from PBMCs in childbearing and perimenopausal women with obesity. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes 2019; 12:1287-1295. [PMID: 31534355 PMCID: PMC6682318 DOI: 10.2147/dmso.s206069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2019] [Accepted: 07/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE We aimed to evaluate the clinical value of systemic levels of estrogen and adipokines as well as estrogen receptors from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in childbearing and perimenopausal women with obesity. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We observed 292 women, including 160 perimenopausal women (80 with obesity and 80 without obesity) and 132 women of childbearing age (67 with obesity and 65 without obesity). Body parameters, such as body mass index and waist circumference, were measured. Fat distribution was evaluated using a computerized tomography scanner. The levels of serum estrogen, leptin, visfatin, and adiponectin were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of circulating ERs was evaluated by Western blot analysis. RESULTS Perimenopausal women and childbearing women with obesity exhibited lower levels of estrogen and adiponectin, in addition to a distribution of visceral fat with higher levels of leptin and visfatin. These findings reflect the current data of menopausal women, which confirms the reliability of this experimental system. However, the expression of ERα in peripheral blood was significantly enhanced in women with obesity of both childbearing and perimenopausal age. This result is contrary to the common understanding of adipose tissue, namely that ERα is protective. The expression of ERβ in the women without obesity of both childbearing and perimenopausal age was higher than in women with obesity, which coincides with the results of a previous study on adipose tissue. CONCLUSION Our data fundamentally contradicts the utility of circulating ERα and ERα/ERβ evaluations in obesity studies. Because estrogen exerts pleiotropic effects on multiple tissues in the body through differential regulation of ERs, although the expression of ERβ coincides with the results of a previous study on adipose tissue, the expression levels of ERs in blood cannot be used as a diagnostic of informative tool for obesity in women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huijuan Fan
- Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
| | - Shujiao Chen
- Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
- Department of Internal Medicine, The Third People’s Hospital Affiliated to Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
- Shujiao ChenResearch Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No.1 Qiuyang Road, Shangjie town, Fuzhou, Minhou District350122, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 5 912 286 1989Fax +86 5 912 286 1989Email
| | - Bizhen Gao
- Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
| | - Shanshan Ding
- Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
| | - Qiang Zhao
- Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
| | - Candong Li
- Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
| | - Tetsuya Asakawa
- Research Base of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Shangjie Minhou350122, People’s Republic of China
- Department of Neurosurgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka431-3192, Japan
- Correspondence: Tetsuya AsakawaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Handayama, 1-20-1, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-city, Shizuoka431-3192, JapanTel +81 53 435 2283Fax +81 53 435 2282Email
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