Gut microbiota and diabetes: from pathogenesis to therapeutic perspective

More than several hundreds of millions of people will be diabetic and obese over the next decades in front of which the actual therapeutic approaches aim at treating the consequences rather than causes of the impaired metabolism. This strategy is not efficient and new paradigms should be found. The wide analysis of the genome cannot predict or explain more than 10–20% of the disease, whereas changes in feeding and social behavior have certainly a major impact. However, the molecular mechanisms linking environmental factors and genetic susceptibility were so far not envisioned until the recent discovery of a hidden source of genomic diversity, i.e., the metagenome. More than 3 million genes from several hundreds of species constitute our intestinal microbiome. First key experiments have demonstrated that this biome can by itself transfer metabolic disease. The mechanisms are unknown but could be involved in the modulation of energy harvesting capacity by the host as well as the low-grade inflammation and the corresponding immune response on adipose tissue plasticity, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance and even the secondary cardiovascular events. Secreted bacterial factors reach the circulating blood, and even full bacteria from intestinal microbiota can reach tissues where inflammation is triggered. The last 5 years have demonstrated that intestinal microbiota, at its molecular level, is a causal factor early in the development of the diseases. Nonetheless, much more need to be uncovered in order to identify first, new predictive biomarkers so that preventive strategies based on pre- and probiotics, and second, new therapeutic strategies against the cause rather than the consequence of hyperglycemia and body weight gain

The interstitium in cardiac repair: role of the immune-stromal cell interplay

Cardiac regeneration, that is, restoration of the original structure and function in a damaged heart, differs from tissue repair, in which collagen deposition and scar formation often lead to functional impairment. In both scenarios, the early-onset inflammatory response is essential to clear damaged cardiac cells and initiate organ repair, but the quality and extent of the immune response vary. Immune cells embedded in the damaged heart tissue sense and modulate inflammation through a dynamic interplay with stromal cells in the cardiac interstitium, which either leads to recapitulation of cardiac morphology by rebuilding functional scaffolds to support muscle regrowth in regenerative organisms or fails to resolve the inflammatory response and produces fibrotic scar tissue in adult mammals. Current investigation into the mechanistic basis of homeostasis and restoration of cardiac function has increasingly shifted focus away from stem cell-mediated cardiac repair towards a dynamic interplay of cells composing the less-studied interstitial compartment of the heart, offering unexpected insights into the immunoregulatory functions of cardiac interstitial components and the complex network of cell interactions that must be considered for clinical intervention in heart diseases

Physiological responses to fluctuating thermal and hydration regimes in the chill susceptible insect, <I>Thaumatotibia leucotreta</I>

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Mass rearing of insects for pest management challenges synergies and advances from evolutionary physiology

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Synthesis and Characterization of Cu–Mn Substituted SrFe12O19 Hexaferrites

In this study, bimetallic (Cu-Mn) substituted SrFe12O19 hexaferrites [Sr1-2xMnxCuxFe12O19 (0.0 <= x <= 0.1)] were synthesized via sol-gel auto-combustion approach. The effect of bimetallic substitution on structure, morphology and magnetism of SrFe12O19 was investigated. SEM images divulge the nano-size of the prepared products with speck morphology. X-ray powder diffraction analysis affirmed their complete conversion to SrFe12O19 hexagonal crystal phase. The results from Fe-57 Mossbauer suggested that all five important sextets of Sr1-2xMnxCuxFe12O19 hexaferrites effected due to the substitution of Cu and Mn ions. Cation distribution calculation showed that as the percentage of Mn and Cu increased in Sr1-2xMnxCuxFe12O19 (0.0 <= x <= 0.1), particularly for x = 0.03 the relative area of 12k and 4f(2) site increased. This indicates that Fe ions are migrated towards 12k and 4f(2) octahedral site