Influence of dietary components on the gut microbiota of middle-aged adults: the gut-Mediterranean connection.

Background: A plant-focused, healthy dietary pattern, such as the Mediterranean diet enriched with dietary fiber, polyphenols, and polyunsaturated fats, is well known to positively influence the gut microbiota. Conversely, a processed diet high in saturated fats and sugars negatively impacts gut diversity, potentially leading to weight gain, insulin resistance, and chronic, low-grade inflammation. Despite this understanding, the mechanisms by which the Mediterranean diet impacts the gut microbiota and its associated health benefits remain unclear.

Healthy lifestyle, daytime sleepiness, and gut microbiome composition are determinants of functional strength in humans: a cross-sectional study.

Age, metabolic inflammation, sleep patterns, lifestyle choices, and gut microbiome composition were investigated as factors influencing functional strength. The Northern German FoCus cohort subgroup (394 women, 233 men) was categorized into six groups based on weekly sports activity and handgrip strength (HGS) measurements. The analyses included anthropometric data, clinical biochemistry, medication, sleep duration, healthy lifestyle score (HLS), 16 S rRNA gut microbiota, serum and urine metabolomics, bile acids, and an adapted dietary inflammatory index (ADII) score.

[Principles of obesity treatment: What has changed in the updated S3 guideline?].

A comprehensive update of the S3 guideline for the prevention and treatment of obesity was published in October 2024. In contrast to the former version, the literature search included not only data on weight reduction but also data on patient-reported outcomes and co-morbidity. The new recommendations for nutritional therapy, besides fat and carbohydrate reduction, now also include novel aspects like the Mediterranean diet and intermittent fasting.

Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes but not obesity are associated with alterations in bile acid related gut microbe-microbe and gut microbe-host community metabolism.

The interplay between bile acids (BAs) and metabolic diseases has gained importance in recent years, with a variety of studies investigating their relationship with diverging results. Therefore, in the present study we performed a detailed analysis of BA metabolism in 492 subjects with different metabolic phenotypes. Besides microbiomics and metabolomics this investigation included analysis of community metabolism to examine metabolic interchange between different microbes as well as microbes and the human host.

Comprehensive evaluation of diabetes subtypes in a European cohort reveals stronger differences of lifestyle, education and psychosocial parameters compared to metabolic or inflammatory factors.

Background: The traditional binary classification of diabetes into Type 1 and Type 2 fails to capture the heterogeneity among diabetes patients. This study aims to identify and characterize diabetes subtypes within the German FoCus cohort, using the ANDIS cohort's classification framework, and to explore subtype-specific variations in metabolic markers, gut microbiota, lifestyle, social factors, and comorbidities.

Methods: We utilized data from 416 participants (208 with diabetes and 208 matched metabolically healthy controls) from the German FoCus cohort.

Metabolic and lifestyle factors accelerate disease onset and alter gut microbiome in inflammatory non-communicable diseases.

Background: Biomedical and lifestyle factors in Western populations have significantly shifted in recent decades, influencing public health and contributing to the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that share inflammation as common pathology.

Methods: We investigated the relationship between these factors and 11 NCDs in the cross-sectional FoCus cohort (n = 1220), using logistic regression models. Associations with age-at-disease-onset were specifically analyzed for type 2 diabetes (T2D, low-grade chronic inflammation) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, high-grade chronic inflammation) in disease-specific cohorts (FoCus-T2D, n = 514; IBD-KC, n = 1110).

Weight loss impacts risky decisions in obesity.

Background & Aims: Risky decision making is shaped by individual psychological and metabolic state. Individuals with obesity show not only altered risk behavior, but also metabolic and psychological abnormalities. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a substantial weight loss in individuals with severe obesity will 1) normalize their metabolic and psychological state and 2) will change their pattern of decision guidance.

Relapsing Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone Production Responding to Tolvaptan Treatment in a Patient With a Micronodular Formation of the Posterior Pituitary Gland.

The syndrome of inappropriate ADH-secretion (SIADH) is a common cause of low sodium levels with diverse aetiology. Here, we report a case of a 41 years old male patient diagnosed with SIADH and a good response to Tolvaptan therapy. Of interest, as a potential unique cause, magnetic resonance imaging revealed a micronodular structure in the posterior pituitary, while no other common cause of SIADH could be identified.

Physical activity-induced alterations of the gut microbiota are BMI dependent.

Physical inactivity is one of the leading causes of chronic metabolic disease including obesity. Increasing physical activity (PA) has been shown to improve cardiometabolic and musculoskeletal health and to be associated with a distinct gut microbiota composition in trained athletes. However, the impact of PA on the gut microbiota is inconclusive for individuals performing PA in their day-to-day life.

Is human obesity an inflammatory disease of the hypothalamus?

Obesity and its comorbidities are long-standing, challenging global health problems. Lack of exercise, overnutrition, and especially the consumption of fat-rich foods are some of the most important factors leading to an increase in prevalence in modern society. The pathophysiology of obesity as a metabolic inflammatory disease has moved into focus since new therapeutic approaches are required.

Brief Research Report: Serum clara cell 16 kDa protein levels are increased in patients hospitalized for severe SARS-CoV-2 or sepsis infection.

Background: Clara cell 16 kDa protein (CC16) is a secretory protein primarily expressed in epithelial cells in the lungs. Previous studies show that CC16 exerts anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory properties in both acute and chronic pulmonary diseases. However, despite the evidence of CC16's high biomarker potential, evaluation of its role in infectious diseases is yet very limited.

Cohort profile: the Food Chain Plus (FoCus) cohort.

The Food Chain Plus (FoCus) cohort was launched in 2011 for population-based research related to metabolic inflammation. To characterize this novel pathology in a comprehensive manner, data collection included multiple omics layers such as phenomics, microbiomics, metabolomics, genomics, and metagenomics as well as nutrition profiling, taste perception phenotyping and social network analysis. The cohort was set-up to represent a Northern German population of the Kiel region.

Dipeptidylpeptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitor therapy increases circulating levels of anti-inflammatory soluble frizzle receptor protein (sFRP)-5 which is decreased in severe COVID-19 disease.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) show an increased risk for a severe COVID-19 disease. Treatment with DPP4 inhibitor (DPP4i) results in reduced mortality and better clinical outcome. Here, we aimed to identify potential mechanisms for the observed DPP4i effect in COVID-19.

Differential Effects of Obesity, Hyperlipidaemia, Dietary Intake and Physical Inactivity on Type I versus Type IV Allergies.

Background: Alongside metabolic diseases (esp. obesity), allergic disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent. Since both obesity and allergies are highly impacted by environmental determinants, with this study we assessed the potential link between metabolic implications and two distinct types of allergies.

A metabolic axis in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Recent rodent microbiome experiments suggest that besides . are important in type 2 diabetes and obesity development. In the present translational human study, we aimed to characterize in our European cross-sectional FoCus cohort (n = 1,544) followed by validation of the major results in an independent Canadian cohort (n = 438).

Microbiota in Health and Disease-Potential Clinical Applications.

Within the last two decades tremendous efforts in biomedicine have been undertaken to understand the interplay of commensal bacteria living in and on our human body with our own human physiology. It became clear that (1) a high diversity especially of the microbial communities in the gut are important to preserve health and that (2) certain bacteria via nutrition-microbe-host metabolic axes are beneficially affecting various functions of the host, including metabolic control, energy balance and immune function. While a large set of evidence indicate a special role for small chain fatty acids (SCFA) in that context, recently also metabolites of amino acids (e.

BMI, Alcohol Consumption and Gut Microbiome Species Richness Are Related to Structural and Functional Neurological Abnormalities.

The incidence of neurological diseases is increasing throughout the world. The aim of the present study was to identify nutrition and microbiome factors related to structural and functional neurological abnormalities to optimize future preventive strategies. Two hundred thirty-eight patients suffering from (1) structural (neurodegeneration) or (2) functional (epilepsy) neurological abnormalities or (3) chronic pain (migraine) and 612 healthy control subjects were analyzed by validated 12-month food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and 16S rRNA microbiome sequencing (from stool samples).

Effect of various weight loss interventions on serum NT-proBNP concentration in severe obese subjects without clinical manifest heart failure.

Obesity is associated with a "natriuretic handicap" indicated by reduced N-terminal fragment of proBNP (NT-proBNP) concentration. While gastric bypass surgery improves the natriuretic handicap, it is presently unclear if sleeve gastrectomy exhibits similar effects. We examined NT-proBNP serum concentration in n = 72 obese participants without heart failure before and 6 months after sleeve gastrectomy (n = 28), gastric bypass surgery (n = 19), and 3-month 800 kcal/day very-low calorie diet (n = 25).

Circulating sDPP-4 is Increased in Obesity and Insulin Resistance but Is Not Related to Systemic Metabolic Inflammation.

Context: Dipeptidylpeptidase (DPP)-4 is a key regulator of the incretin system. It exists in a membrane-bound form and a soluble form (sDPP-4). Initial human studies suggested sDPP-4 to be an adipokine involved in metabolic inflammation.

Circulating levels of soluble Dipeptidylpeptidase-4 are reduced in human subjects hospitalized for severe COVID-19 infections.

Dipeptidylpeptidase (DPP)-4 is a key regulator of the incretin system. For several years DPP-4 inhibitors in addition to GLP-1 analogues are of major importance in the clinical management of obesity and type 2 diabetes. DPP-4 is also known as CD26 and represents a membrane bound protease on the surface of several eukaryotic cell types.