The Nose Knows: Olfaction as a Metabolic Gatekeeper in Health and Disease.

Long regarded as an accessory sense, olfaction is now emerging as a metabolic architect, an active agent in energy homeostasis, appetite regulation, and systemic physiology. This review explores the converging lines of evidence positioning the olfactory system not as a passive enhancer of flavor but as a dynamic mediator between environment, behavior, and internal metabolic state. Food odors engage specific olfactory receptors (ORs), which are embedded in neural circuits that project to hypothalamic, limbic, and reward regions.

Short-term consumption of highly processed diets varying in macronutrient content impair the sense of smell and brain metabolism in mice.

Objective: Food processing greatly contributed to increased food safety, diversity, and accessibility. However, the prevalence of highly palatable and highly processed food in our modern diet has exacerbated obesity rates and contributed to a global health crisis. While accumulating evidence suggests that chronic consumption of such foods is detrimental to sensory and neural physiology, it is unclear whether its short-term intake has adverse effects.

A Novel Missense Mutation in a Portuguese Family with Congenital Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism.

Congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) is a rare reproductive endocrine disorder characterized by complete or partial failure of pubertal development and infertility due to deficiency of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). CHH has a significant clinical heterogeneity and can be caused by mutations in over 30 genes. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic defect in two siblings with CHH.