Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can progress to hepatic fibrosis and end-stage liver disease. Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the central mediators of liver fibrosis. The molecular mechanisms linking hepatic steatosis to activation of HSC, thereby promoting inflammation and fibrosis, are mainly unknown. Here, we demonstrate a novel in vitro model to study the effect of hepatic lipid accumulation on HSC.Methods and results:...

Background: Systemic adiponectin is reduced in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Peripheral monocytes of type 2 diabetic patients are activated and show a higher surface abundance of CCR2. Inflammatory markers like CCL2 are elevated in the serum of these patients. Therefore, the influence of adiponectin on the release of CC chemokines and the abundance of the corresponding receptors were investigated in monocytic cells.Methods: Primary ...

Background: The variablity of the individual susceptibility to diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance is well known, but so far insufficiently explained. As skeletal muscle metabolism and insulin sensitivity are important pathophysiologic features of obesity-asscociated metabolic perturbations, we tried to identify differences in muscular gene expression profiles between high fat fed rats prone to develop obesity (diet-induced obesity, DIO) and those which remained lean (...

Background: Obese patients show an increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, but the causality of the relationship is not known. Here, we examine whether a pharmacologic sympathectomy influences diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in the high fat fed rat model.Methods: Wistar-Rats were fed ad libitum with a high fat diet (HF, 40 energy% of fat, based on lard) for 12 weeks. A pharmacologic sympathectomy was performed by a) weekl...

Background: Adiponectin was suggested to exert hepatoprotective effects in animal models of tetrachlorcarbonate-, endotoxin- and alcohol-induced liver injury. Further, in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) low adiponectin levels were found to be associated with more severe steatosis and hepatic inflammation.Methods: To investigate the molecular basis of the hepatoprotective effects of adiponectin primary human hepatocytes were incuba...