Short-term effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists on fat distribution in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: an ultrasonography study

AIMS:Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) induce weight loss and reduction in adipose tissue, but the effects of GLP-1 RA on the distribution of fat deposits have been poorly investigated. METHODS: In 25 patients with type 2 diabetes (16 females and 9 males, mean age 63.5 ± 8.8 years), treated with GLP-1 RA (exenatide, n. 12; liraglutide, n.13), both before and 3 months after starting treatment, an abdominal ultrasonographic scan, with Doppler of renal arteries, and echocardiography were performed. Subcutaneous fat width (peri-umbilical and sub-xiphoid), deep fat deposits (pre-aortic, peri-renal, and epicardial), and renal resistive index (RI) were evaluated. RESULTS: GLP-1 RA induced highly significant (p < 0.001) decrease in BMI and in fat thickness at all the assessed sites, without differences between exenatide and liraglutide treatment. A slight decrease in RI (p = 0.055) was also found. The percent changes of fat thickness was different between sites (p < 0.025), and the changes in subcutaneous deposits showed no significant correlation (p = 0.064) with those of deep fat deposits. CONCLUSIONS: A short course of treatment with GLP-1 RA, besides weight loss, induces a redistribution of adipose tissue deposits, possibly contributing to a better cardiovascular risk profile in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Endothelial dysfunction markers as a therapeutic target for Sildenafil treatment and effects on metabolic control in type 2 diabetes

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) plays a role in diabetic cardiovascular complications. Hyperglycemia increases cytockines involved in vascular inflammation. Inhibition of phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) exerts a relaxation on corpora cavernosa and has cardioprotective properties. The effect of chronic sildenafil treatment, on ED markers and metabolic parameters in a non-randomized study on men with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), was investigated

Fabrication and characterization of magnetic thin films and multilayers

135 p.Los objetivos principales de esta tesis han sido por un lado la fabricación de películas y multicapas magnéticas de alta calidad y con alta reproducibilidad a la nanoescala y, por otro lado, la comprensión y modelización de los fenómenos magnéticos a dicha escala. En la primera parte se han estudiado las propiedades magnéticas de películas epitaxiales de aleaciones de cobalto y cromo, y sus dependencias con la composición y temperatura. Dichas muestras presentan una composición que posee un perfil de profundidad similar al de una ¿bañera¿. El estudio muestra que las propiedades magnéticas varían en función de la profundidad, siguiendo el perfil de la composición de cromo. En la segunda parte, se ha estudiado el proceso de inversión de la magnetización en función de la temperatura y del ángulo de aplicación del campo magnético externo en muestras de cobalto y cobalto-rutenio. Detalladas simulaciones micromagnéticas han complementado los resultados experimentales y han permitido la identificación de tres fases magnéticas diferentes cuyo punto de coexistencia es tricrítico en su naturaleza. En la última parte, se ha demostrado la inversión de la magnetización de superficie por medio del campo magnético en capas finas de Cr2O3, descubriendo una dependencia gigante con la temperatura del campo coercitivo. Este efecto resultaría óptimo para la técnica de grabación magnética asistida por calor. Además, hemos investigado películas epitaxiales de Cr2-xAlxO3, observando que la temperatura crítica se puede modificar mediante la aleación de Al2O3 utilizando la magnetización de superficie como una sonda para estudiar la transición de fase antiferromagnética.CICnanoGun

Metabolism within the tumor microenvironment and its implication on cancer progression: an ongoing therapeutic target

Since reprogramming energy metabolism is considered a new hallmark of cancer, tumor metabolism is again in the spotlight of cancer research. Many studies have been carried out and many possible therapies have been developed in the last years. However, tumor cells are not alone. A series of extracellular components and stromal cells, such as endothelial cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, tumor-associated macrophages and tumor-infiltrating T cells, surround tumor cells in the so-called tumor microenvironment. Metabolic features of these cells are being studied in deep in order to find relationships between metabolism within the tumor microenvironment and tumor progression. Moreover, it cannot be forgotten that tumor growth is able to modulate host metabolism and homeostasis, so that tumor microenvironment is not the whole story. Importantly, the metabolic switch in cancer is just a consequence of the flexibility and adaptability of metabolism and should not be surprising. Treatments of cancer patients with combined therapies including anti-tumor agents with those targeting stromal cell metabolism, anti-angiogenic drugs and/or immunotherapy are being developed as promising therapeutics.Mª Carmen Ocaña is recipient of a predoctoral FPU grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER), P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The "CIBER de Enfermedades Raras" is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript

Magnetic field induced switching of the antiferromagnetic order parameter in thin films of magnetoelectric chromia

A Landau-theoretical approach is utilized to model the magnetic field induced reversal of the antiferromagnetic order parameter in thin films of magnetoelectric antiferromagnets. A key ingredient of this peculiar switching phenomenon is the presence of a robust spin polarized state at the surface of the antiferromagnetic films. Surface or boundary magnetization is symmetry allowed in magnetoelectric antiferromagnets and experimentally established for chromia thin films. It couples rigidly to the antiferromagnetic order parameter and its Zeeman energy creates a pathway to switch the antiferromagnet via magnetic field application. In the framework of a minimalist Landau free energy expansion, the temperature dependence of the switching field and the field dependence of the transition width are derived. Least-squares fits to magnetometry data of (0001) textured chromia thin films strongly support this model of the magnetic reversal mechanism

Giant temperature dependence of the spin reversal field in magnetoelectric chromia

Magnetic field-induced reversal of surface spin polarization for the magnetoelectric antiferromagnet chromia is studied via magnetometry in (0001)-textured thin films of various thicknesses. Reversal solely by magnetic means has been experimentally evidenced in sufficiently thin films. It sets the field-response of chromia films apart from bulk behavior, where switching between time-reversed single domain states requires the simultaneous presence of electric and magnetic fields. In our detailed experiments, we furthermore observe a giant sensitivity of the coercive field on temperature, thus, indicating the potential of magnetoelectric antiferromagnets as promising candidates for energy assisted magnetic recording media

Boundary magnetization properties of epitaxial Cr2−xAlxO3 thin films

The magnetoelectric antiferromagnet α-Cr2O3 (chromia) is known to possess a roughness insensitive net equilibrium magnetization at the (0001) surface, called boundary magnetization (BM), which is coupled to the bulk antiferromagnetic order parameter. In order to verify whether this symmetry sensitive BM persists in alloys, we investigate the impact of diamagnetic dilution on chromia thin films alloyed with the isostructural α-Al2O3 (alumina). Single-crystalline Cr2−xAlxO3 thin films with (0001) surface orientation and varying stoichiometry have been grown by sputter codeposition in the concentration range between x = 0 and x = 0.6. For these samples, we find the corundum crystal structure, the antiferromagnetic ordering, and the boundary magnetization to be preserved. We also find that the critical temperature TN can be tuned by alloying with α-Al2O3, using the BM as a probe to study the magnetic phase transition. Furthermore, we were able to evaluate the critical exponent and the absolute BM values for different samples. Both properties corroborate that the observed magnetic signals originate from the BM rather than the bulk of the samples