Endocrine Abstracts

Men have a higher prevalence and risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) than age-matched women and this may, in part, be related to differences in fatty acid oxidation. Fasting and postprandial fatty acid oxidation was investigated in 11 healthy men and 11 healthy women matched for age (46±2 years vs 46±2 years (mean±S.E.M.)), BMI (28.0±1 vs 27.0±1 kg/m2) and liver fat content (3.4±0.9 vs 3.9±0.7%) measure...

Hepatic steatosis, accumulation of intracellular triglyceride (TG) (>5% of hepatic tissue), is the prerequisite for the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD represents a spectrum of liver diseases and is associated with obesity and obesity-related metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Steatosis occurs due to an imbalance between fatty acid input and removal (fatty acid partitioning) which can be affected by geneti...

Introduction: Pharmacological targeting of skeletal muscle to enhance metabolism through signalling pathways independent of insulin could be effective in treating metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. BI-9774 is an allosteric agonist which has been shown to have high potency in enhancing 5’ AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity. The purpose of these experiments was to establish the effects of BI-9774 on AMPK signalling and mitocho...

Introduction: Skeletal muscle (SkM) is a major site of carbohydrate and fatty acid (FA) utilisation, where efficient selection between these two substrates is paramount in maintaining metabolic homeostasis. The accumulation of FA in SkM has been suggested to contribute to metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Consequently, there is significant interest in SkM FA metabolism and importantly, how FAs contribute to the metabolic function...

Glucocorticoids (GC) are commonly prescribed and their use is associated with adverse metabolic side effects. 5a-reductase (5aR) inhibitors are also frequently prescribed mainly for their ability to inhibit the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. However, they also have a role to inactivate and clear GCs. We hypothesised that 5aR inhibitors have the potential to exacerbate the adverse metabolic effects of GCs. We conducted a prospective, randomised, study in 19 ...

Glucocorticoid (GC) excess drives obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a prevalent condition associated with both activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and an adverse metabolic phenotype. However, a causal link between these two features has not been established. We designed a novel human model of intermittent hypoxia (IH) aimed at replicating the systemic insulin resistance associ...

Glucocorticoids (GC) are commonly prescribed and their use is associated with adverse metabolic side effects. 5a-reductase (5aR) inhibitors are also frequently prescribed mainly for their ability to inhibit the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. However, they also have a role to inactivate and clear GCs. We hypothesised that 5aR inhibitors have the potential to exacerbate the adverse metabolic effects of GCs. We conducted a prospective, randomised, study in 19 ...

Glucocorticoid (GC) excess drives obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a prevalent condition associated with both activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and an adverse metabolic phenotype. However, a causal link between these two features has not been established. We designed a novel human model of intermittent hypoxia (IH) aimed at replicating the systemic insulin resistance associ...

Introduction: Increased hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) is often associated with greater intrahepatic triglyceride (IHTG) content and/or decreased insulin sensitivity; however, the contribution of DNL to each has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, the present work determined if increased DNL, achieved via adoption of an isocaloric high-sugar diet, resulted in concomitant increases in IHTG content and/or decreases in insulin sensitivity.Methods: Sixt...

Background and Aim: Hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) has been implicated in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acids (FA) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) decreases intrahepatic triacylglycerol (IHTAG) and plasma TAG concentrations, which is suggested to be mediated through changes in hepatic DNL. We investigated the effects of omega-3 FA supplementation on intrahepatic DNL an...