Endocrine Abstracts

Replacement with mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) or poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) reduces inflammation in the pre-diabetic subjects but the benefits are unclear in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Our aim was to investigate whether saturated fatty acids (SFA), MUFA and PUFA produce a similar adipocyte inflammatory response, which may explain the rationale for maintained systemic inflammation noted in subjects with T2DM. The differentiated human preadipo...

Background: Adipose tissue (AT) may have a significant role in obesity associated inflammation but, the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of obesity induced inflammation remains unclear. Recent murine studies indicate that ER stress is critical to the initiation and integration of inflammation and insulin signalling pathways. The ER stress occurs primarily due to accumulation of unfolded proteins and results in activation of the unfolded protein response to restore ER hom...

We have previously shown that the orexigenic hormone NPY is secreted by human adipocytes. The orexigenic hormone NPY(1–36) is truncated by the dipeptidyl-inhibitor IV (DPP-IV) to NPY(3–36) as consequence its affinity changes from receptor Y1 to Y4 and 5. The aim was to investigate whether DPP-IV is expressed in adipose tissue (AT) where it could modulate adipose tissue growth through modulation of NPY activity. This is relevant in light of DPP-IV inhibitors utilised ...

Obesity-associated inflammation is a major contributory factor in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the mechanisms underlying the progression of T2DM are yet to be fully elucidated. The adipokine, resistin, has recently been implicated as a pro-inflammatory cytokine in obesity-related T2DM. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterise the role of resistin in the innate immune inflammatory pathway within isolated human abdominal subcutaneous ...

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a centrally expressed peptide with potent orexigenic properties, released post-prandially to stimulate appetite, regulated by insulin and altered by obesity. NPY is expressed in adipose tissue which suggests it may have a potential effect on altering appetite control in obesity. To date no study has investigated NPY and its regulation in human adipose tissue. Therefore, the aims of this study were to 1) determine the depot-specific expression in abdomin...

CGRP, a potent vasodilator, is elevated in the intense periods during menopausal hot flushes and presently represents a candidate mediator of vasomotor symptoms. However due to the short half-life of CGRP, the local paracrine effects may be more important than systemic effects. These local paracrine effects may be mediated in conjunction with adipose tissue, due to close physical proximity with the vasculature; as well as altered oestrogen metabolism following menopause. There...

Obesity-mediated diabetes is associated with insulin resistance/hyperinsulinaemia and chronic sub-clinical inflammation. Recent studies have highlighted fatty liver(steatosis) as a risk factor for diabetes. Fatty liver disease (FLD) progresses through fatty liver, necro-inflammation (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) and fatwith fibrosis. In addition, hepatic steatosis per se can lead to hepatic insulin resistance/hyperin...

Chronic sub-clinical inflammation is associated with both type 2 diabetes and related vascular complications which is coupled with pro-inflammatory markers, such as IL-6, TNF-alpha and C-reactive protein (CRP). Resistin is the latest protein to be linked with inflammation and insulin resistance in obesity. Adipose tissue has been previously established as a source of circulating resistin, TNF-alpha and IL-6. As our previous studies demonstrated a correlation between serum resi...

Chronic sub-clinical inflammation is associated with increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and is particularly observed in patients that have undergone CABG. Resistin, a novel adipocyte derived protein, has been linked with central adiposity, insulin resistance and sub-clinical inflammation and may mediate both systemic and local paracrine pro-inflammatory responses in vivo. As such we investigated serum resistin from CABG patients and examined whether e...

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is associated with insulin resistance and chronic sub-clinical inflammation. Pro-inflammatory cytokines produced from adipose tissue are secreted as part of the innate immune response and also associated with insulin resistance. In contrast, adipocyte derived adiponectin is associated with insulin sensitivity and also has anti-inflammatory properties. Hence fat may represent a site for mediating the innate immune response. We therefore investigated a mec...