Mechanism-Based Biomarker Prediction for Low-Grade Inflammation in Liver and Adipose Tissue

Metabolic disorders, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes have a large impact on global health, especially in industrialized countries. Tissue-specific chronic low-grade inflammation is a key contributor to complications in metabolic disorders. To support therapeutic approaches to these complications, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding...

The serosal immune system of the thorax in toxicology

The thoracic cavities receive increasing attention in toxicology, because inhaled fibers and (nano)particles can reach these cavities and challenge the local lymphoid tissues. The thoracic and abdominopelvic cavities are controlled by the serosal immune system with its special, loosely organized lymphoid clusters, namely the fat-associated...

Quantifying phenotypic flexibility as the response to a high-fat challenge test in different states of metabolic health

Metabolism maintains homeostasis at chronic hypercaloric conditions, activating postprandial response mechanisms, which come at the cost of adaptation processes such as energy storage, eventually with negative health consequences. This study quantified the metabolic adaptation capacity by studying challenge response curves. After a high-fat...

Weight fluctuation during childhood and cardiometabolic risk at young adulthood

Objectives To test the hypothesis that greater weight fluctuation between 2 and 6 years is associated with an increase in weight measures (such as body mass index [BMI]) and cardiometabolic risk in young adulthood. Study design Weight fluctuation (determined by BMI SD scores) was measured at least 3 times between the ages of 2 and 6 years in 166...

Phenotypic flexibility as a measure of health the optimal nutritional stress response test

Nutrition research is struggling to demonstrate beneficial health effects, since nutritional effects are often subtle and long term. Health has been redefined as the ability of our body to cope with daily-life challenges. Physiology acts as a well-orchestrated machinery to adapt to the continuously changing environment. We term this adaptive...

Aspirin reduces hypertriglyceridemia by lowering VLDL-triglyceride production in mice fed a high-fat diet

Systemic inflammation is strongly involved in the pathophysiology of the metabolic syndrome, a cluster of metabolic risk factors that includes hypertriglyceridemia. Aspirin treatment lowers inflammation via inhibition of NF-?B activity but also reduces hypertriglyceridemia in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism by...

Effects of dietary fibre intake during adolescence on the components of the metabolic syndrome at the age of 36 years: The Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study

Background: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is increasing, especially in young individuals. Most of the previous studies that have investigated the association between dietary fibre intake and the metabolic syndrome are cross-sectional or of short duration, and their results are inconsistent. The present study investigated whether...

Identifying metabolic syndrome without blood tests in young adults: The Terneuzen Birth Cohort

Background: Within the context of the obesity epidemic identifying young adults at risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is important. A practical approach is based on the identification of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Our objective was to develop a simple and efficient stepwise strategy to identify MetS in young adults. Methods:...

The impact of metabolic syndrome and CRP on vascular phenotype in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: The burden of cardiovascular disease in diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) patients is variable. We hypothesize that metabolic syndrome (MS) and low-grade systemic inflammation modify the extent of atherosclerosis in DM2. Methods: Vascular phenotype was determined using the following endothelium-related, hemostatic, and sonographic...

Response of apolipoprotein E*3-Leiden transgenic mice to dietary fatty acids: Combining liver proteomics with physiological data

Systems biology, connectivity and the future of medicine

The concept of systems-based strategies in medicine is emerging, with systems pathology guiding an understanding of the multidimensional aspects of disease system fingerprints and systems pharmacology providing insight into dynamic system responses upon (multiple) drug perturbations. Knowledge of the changes of system characteristics during...

Metabolomics in the context of systems biology: Bridging Traditional Chinese Medicine and molecular pharmacology

The introduction of the concept of systems biology, enabling the study of living systems from a holistic perspective based on the profiling of a multitude of biochemical components, opens up a unique and novel opportunity to reinvestigate natural products. In the study of their bioactivity, the necessary reductionistic approach on single active...

Hepatic Steatosis: A Mediator of the Metabolic Syndrome. Lessons from Animal Models

Epidemiological studies in humans, as well as experimental studies in animal models, have shown an association between visceral obesity and dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Recently, attention has been focused on the excessive accumulation of triglycerides (TG) in the liver as part of this syndrome. In this review,...