Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Abdominal fat accumulation is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, whereas lower body fat is protective. Erythroferrone (ERFE) is a recently discovered protein that increases intestinal iron absorption by inhibiting hepcidin. ERFE has been shown to inhibit BMP2 signalling and work from our group has shown that BMP2 is a differentiation factor for subcutaneous abdominal, but not gluteal, adipocytes. Because of this, we hypothesised that ERFE...

Bile acids (BAs) are synthesised from cholesterol in the liver and promote lipid digestion. An emerging body of evidence, however, suggests that BAs are also key signaling molecules with potent metabolic and endocrine functions, exerting their effects through activation of BA receptors, including the farnesoid-X- (FXR) and the G-protein-coupled- (TGR5) receptors. Disturbed BA synthesis has been associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance, and recent studies...