Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis offers an appealing prospect to combat obesity. Obesity is characterised by a state of chronic inflammation in adipose tissue mediated by the secretion of a range of inflammatory-cytokines. Our previous work has highlighted that a gut-derived inflammatory agent, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), reduces brown adipocyte activity, insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial-function and is increased with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus...

Background: Chemerin is a multifunctional adipokine involved in pathogenesis of metabolic disease by regulating inflammation, adipocyte plasticity and glucose metabolism. It is known to be influenced by age, adiposity and triglycerides, and supports important roles in systemic lipid and glucose metabolism.However, the direct acute effects of circulating chemerin on varying metabolic disease states given a high–saturated fat meal has not been addressed.<p clas...

Introduction: Central obesity is a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with omental adipose tissue (AT) particularly involved in such risk. Additionally, obesity can cause low-level gut-derived endotoxemia, which may drive metabolic dysfunction in AT through mitochondrial damage and reduced BRITE (brown-in-white) adipocytes. Bariatric surgery reduces obesity and may prevent such dysfunction. This study investigated whether endotoxin: 1) impairs mitocho...

Background: Dysfunctional adipose tissue in obesity is known to contribute to metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This may be due to increased gut-derived endotoxemia (LPS) reducing brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity and altering mitochondrial function. However, the effect of LPS on BAT activity in 3D culture models has not been studied, despite giving a better representation of in-vivo tissue. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of LPS o...

Background: Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and associated mitochondrial dysfunction contribute to the pathogenesis of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Studies show broccoli can reduce inflammation in cancer and may therefore mitigate inflammation-induced cellular disruption that precedes insulin resistance in human adipocytes. Therefore these studies investigated the impact of freeze-dried broccoli extracts (BE) on ER stress and mitochondrial dy...

Background: The acquisition of brown-adipocyte-properties by white-adipocytes (BRITE-adipocytes) is an appealing-prospect to combat obesity and type-2-diabetes-Mellitus (T2DM). This may support counteracting the impact of inflammation and mitochondrial-dysfunction, which contribute to the obesity-pathogenesis. However, our previous-finding shave shown that the gut-derived-inflammatory-agent endotoxin can increase the inflammatory-response in white-adipose-tissue impacted by ob...

Background: Dysfunctional endoplasmic reticula (ER) and mitochondria contribute to the pathogenesis of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This may, in part, be facilitated by cross-talk between the two organelles during conditions of nutrient excess such as obesity, however the potential impact of ER stress on mitochondrial function has not been well studied. This study investigated whether induction of ER stress in human adipocytes may contribute to mitochondrial dy...

Background: Delivery of nutrient excess in obesity can disrupt protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) within adipose tissue; this activates the unfolded protein response (UPR) and contributes to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk. Thus, the aims of this study were to utilise freeze-dried broccoli extract (BE) as a nutrient to mitigate such cellular damage in human adipocytes, understand the relevance of associated pathways, and create a mathematical model of the U...

Background: Lipocalin 2 (NGAL) is considered a pro-inflammatory adipokine. Noting the conflicting reports as to the role of Lipocalin 2 in metabolic disease, it remains unclear whether an acute or chronic state affects its impact on adipocyte function. In an attempt to address this our current studies investigated for the first time in humans, whether Lipocalin 2 in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (AT) may influence mitochondrial function and browning of adipocytes, as c...

Background: In an obese state, pro-inflammatory adipokines can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced brown adipocytes properties in white adipocytes (BRITE adipocytes), all of which contribute to the pathogenesis of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A recent novel adipokine, asprosin, that influences appetite and glucose homeostasis, appears to drive inflammation in obesity. However, asprosin expression in human adipose tissue (AT) depots, its impact on mito...