Nicotine' actions on energy balance: friend or foe?

Teixit adipós; Receptors nicotínics; ObesitatTejido adiposo; Receptores nicotínicos; ObesidadAdipose tissue; Nicotinic receptors; ObesityObesity has reached pandemic proportions and is associated with severe comorbidities, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hepatic and cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancer types. However, the therapeutic options to treat obesity are limited. Extensive epidemiological studies have shown a strong relationship between smoking and body weight, with non-smokers weighing more than smokers at any age. Increased body weight after smoking cessation is a major factor that interferes with their attempts to quit smoking. Numerous controlled studies in both humans and rodents have reported that nicotine, the main bioactive component of tobacco, exerts a marked anorectic action. Furthermore, nicotine is also known to modulate energy expenditure, by regulating the thermogenic activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and the browning of white adipose tissue (WAT), as well as glucose homeostasis. Many of these actions occur at central level, by controlling the activity of hypothalamic neuropeptide systems such as proopiomelanocortin (POMC), or energy sensors such as AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). However, direct impact of nicotine on metabolic tissues, such as BAT, WAT, liver and pancreas has also been described. Here, we review the actions of nicotine on energy balance. The relevance of this interaction is interesting, because considering the restricted efficiency of obesity treatments, a possible complementary approach may focus on compounds with known pharmacokinetic profile and pharmacological actions, such as nicotine or nicotinic acetylcholine receptors signaling.Xunta de Galicia (RN: 2016-PG057; ML: 2016-PG068); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) co-funded by the FEDER Program of EU (RN: RTI2018-099413-B-I00; CD: BFU2017- 87721-P; ML: RTI2018-101840-B-I00; JMF-R and ML: BFU2017- 90578-REDT/Adipoplast); Instituto de Salud Carlos III (JMF-R: PI15–01934); Atresmedia Corporación (RN and ML); Fundación BBVA (RN); “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434), under the agreement LCF/PR/HR19/52160022 (ML); European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (RN); ERC Synergy Grant-2019-WATCH- 810331 (RN); US Na- tional Institutes of Health (KR: HL084207); the US Department of Vet- erans Affairs (KR: I01BX004249); The University of Iowa Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center (KR). PS-C is recipient of a fel- lowship from Xunta de Galicia (ED481B 2018/050). The CiMUS is sup- ported by the Xunta de Galicia (2016-2019, ED431G/05). CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición is an initiative of ISCIII

Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown in Eating Disorders: A Multicentre Collaborative International Study

Trastorns de l'alimentació; Impacte psicològic; Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; ConfinamentTrastornos de la alimentación; Impacto psicológico; Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; ConfinamientoEating Disorders; Psychological impact; Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; ConfinementBackground: The COVID-19 lockdown has had a significant impact on mental health. Patients with eating disorders (ED) have been particularly vulnerable. Aims: (1) To explore changes in eating-related symptoms and general psychopathology during lockdown in patients with an ED from various European and Asian countries; and (2) to assess differences related to diagnostic ED subtypes, age, and geography. Methods: The sample comprised 829 participants, diagnosed with an ED according to DSM-5 criteria from specialized ED units in Europe and Asia. Participants were assessed using the COVID-19 Isolation Scale (CIES). Results: Patients with binge eating disorder (BED) experienced the highest impact on weight and ED symptoms in comparison with other ED subtypes during lockdown, whereas individuals with other specified feeding and eating disorders (OFSED) had greater deterioration in general psychological functioning than subjects with other ED subtypes. Finally, Asian and younger individuals appeared to be more resilient. Conclusions: The psychopathological changes in ED patients during the COVID-19 lockdown varied by cultural context and individual variation in age and ED diagnosis. Clinical services may need to target preventive measures and adapt therapeutic approaches for the most vulnerable patients

Transdiagnostic Perspective of Impulsivity and Compulsivity in Obesity: From Cognitive Profile to Self-Reported Dimensions in Clinical Samples with and without Diabetes

Impulsivity; Compulsivity; Diabetes type 2Impulsivitat; Compulsivitat; Diabetis tipus 2Impulsividad; Compulsividad; Diabetes tipo 2Impulsive and compulsive behaviors have both been observed in individuals with obesity. The co-occurrence of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more strongly associated with impulsivity, although there are no conclusive results yet. A multidimensional assessment of impulsivity and compulsivity was conducted in individuals with obesity in the absence or presence of T2D, compared with healthy, normal-weight individuals, with highly impulsive patients (gambling disorders), and with highly compulsive patients (anorexia nervosa). Decision making and novelty seeking were used to measure impulsivity, and cognitive flexibility and harm avoidance were used for compulsivity. For impulsivity, patients with obesity and T2D showed poorer decision-making ability compared with healthy individuals. For compulsivity, individuals with only obesity presented less cognitive flexibility and high harm avoidance; these dimensions were not associated with obesity with T2D. This study contributes to the knowledge of the mechanisms associated with diabetes and its association with impulsive-compulsive behaviors, confirming the hypothesis that patients with obesity and T2D would be characterized by higher levels of impulsivity.This manuscript and research were supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (FIS PI14/00290, PI17/01167 and PI20/132) and (PI13/00462, PI16/00501, PI19/00576), by the SLT006/17/00246 grant, funded by the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya by the call “Acció instrumental de programes de recerca orientats en l’àmbit de la recerca i la innovació en salut” (PERIS) and co-funded by FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a way to build Europe. CIBERObn is an initiative of ISCIII. This research was also partially funded by EU-H2020 grants (Eat2beNICE/H2020-SFS-2016-2, Ref 728018; PRIME/H2020-SC1-BHC-2018-2020, Ref: 847879). CG-M receives a predoctoral grant from the University of Rovira i Virgili (2020PMFPIPF- 37). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Viability study of machine learning-based prediction of COVID-19 pandemic impact in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients

Background: Machine learning modeling can provide valuable support in different areas of mental health, because it enables to make rapid predictions and therefore support the decision making, based on valuable data. However, few studies have applied this method to predict symptoms’ worsening, based on sociodemographic, contextual, and clinical data. Thus, we applied machine learning techniques to identify predictors of symptomatologic changes in a Spanish cohort of OCD patients during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 127 OCD patients were assessed using the Yale–Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and a structured clinical interview during the COVID-19 pandemic. Machine learning models for classification (LDA and SVM) and regression (linear regression and SVR) were constructed to predict each symptom based on patient’s sociodemographic, clinical and contextual information. Results: A Y-BOCS score prediction model was generated with 100% reliability at a score threshold of ± 6. Reliability of 100% was reached for obsessions and/or compulsions related to COVID-19. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were predicted with less reliability (correlation R of 0.58 and 0.68, respectively). The suicidal thoughts are predicted with a sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 88%. The best results are achieved by SVM and SVR. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that sociodemographic and clinical data can be used to predict changes in OCD symptomatology. Machine learning may be valuable tool for helping clinicians to rapidly identify patients at higher risk and therefore provide optimized care, especially in future pandemics. However, further validation of these models is required to ensure greater reliability of the algorithms for clinical implementation to specific objectives of interest.Sandra Carvalho receives scholarship and support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), co-funded through COMPETE 2020 – PO Competitividade e Internacionalização/Portugal 2020/European Union, FEDER (Fundos Europeus Estruturais e de Investimento – FEEI) under the number:PTDC/PSI-ESP/29701/2017.publishe

Developing speaking competences in technical English for Spanish civil engineering students

[EN] Traditionally, Spanish schools of civil engineering provide their students a class on “Technical English” in order to develop their language skills. However, this class does not cover all the skills that the student would need in the labor market and mainly focuses in the reading and writing skills, and in a lower degree in the speaking and listening ones. This paper proposes a series of innovative and informal training activities (cine-forum on technical civil engineering topics and role playing on real professional situations) that allow Spanish civil engineering students to develop English skills that can rarely be worked in the classroom (i.e. speaking, negotiating and conversing), encouraging debate, participation, and fostering their self-confidence to speak about technical-English topics in public. Although the students’ level of English is much lower than expected, they all agree on the importance of technical English for their future career. The results also show the students’ lack in skills that are difficult to train in regular classes (speaking and talking). Consequently, this situation would require to provide complementary activities like the ones suggested in this project in order to develop these skills and increase the students’ demand for engineering classes taught in English.Romero De Ávila Serrano, V.; Diaz García, S.; Asensio Sánchez, L.; Lozano Galant, JA.; Moyano Enríquez De Salamanca, A.; Porras Soriano, R.; Poveda Bautista, E.... (2017). Developing speaking competences in technical English for Spanish civil engineering students. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1228-1236. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.55641228123

Molecular phenomics of a high-calorie diet-induced porcine model of prepubertal obesity

As obesity incidence is alarmingly rising among young individuals, we aimed to characterize an experimental model of this situation, considering the similarity between human and porcine physiology. For this reason, we fed prepubertal (63 days-old) Duroc breed females (n=20) either with a standard growth diet (3800 KCal/day) or one with a high-calorie content (5200 KCal/day) during 70 days. Computerized tomography, mass-spectrometry based metabolomics, and lipidomics, as well as peripheral blood mononuclear cell transcriptomics, were applied to define traits linked to high-calorie intake. Samples from a human cohort confirmed potential lipidomic markers. Compared to those fed a standard growth diet, pigs fed a high-calorie diet showed an increased weight gain (13%), much higher adiposity (53%), hypertriacylglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia, in parallel to insulin resistance. This diet induced marked changes in the circulating lipidome, particularly in phosphatidylethanolamine-type molecules. Also, circulating specific diacylglycerol and monoacylglycerol contents correlated with visceral fat and intrahepatic triacylglycerol concentrations. Specific lipids associated with obesity in swine (mainly belonging to glycerophospholipid, triacylglyceride, and sterol classes) were also linked with obesity-traits in the human cohort, reinforcing the usefulness of the chosen approach. Interestingly, no overt inflammation in plasma or adipose tissue was evident in this model. The presented model is useful as a preclinical surrogate of prepubertal obesity in order to ascertain the pathophysiology interactions between energy intake and obesity development.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Personalised Clinical Decision Support For Diabetes Management Using Real-time Data

PEPPER (Patient Empowerment through Predictive PERsonalised decision support) is an EU-funded research project to develop a personalised clinical decision support system for Type 1 diabetes self-management. The tool provides insulin bolus dose advice and carbohydrate recommendations, tailored to the needs of individuals. The former is determined by Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), an artificial intelligence technique that adapts to new situations according to past experience. The latter uses a predictive computer model that also promotes safety by providing glucose alarms, low-glucose insulin suspension and fault detection

Modulation of SHBG binding to testosterone and estradiol by sex and morbid obesity.

Objective: Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) binds and transports testosterone and estradiol in plasma. The possibility that SHBG is a mixture of transporting proteins has been postulated. We analyzed in parallel the effects of obesity status on the levels and binding capacity of circulating SHBG and their relationship with testosterone and estradiol.Design: Anthropometric measures and plasma were obtained from apparently healthy young (i.e. 35 +/- 7 years) premenopausal women (n = 32) and men (n = 30), with normal weight and obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m(2)).Methods: SHBG protein (Western blot), as well as the plasma levels of testosterone, estradiol, cortisol and insulin (ELISA) were measured. Specific binding of estradiol and testosterone to plasma SHBG was analyzed using tritiumlabeled hormones.Results: Significant differences in SHBG were observed within the obesity status and gender, with discordant patterns of change in testosterone and estradiol. In men, testosterone occupied most of the binding sites. Estrogen binding was much lower in all subjects. Lower SHBG of morbidly obese (BMI > 40 kg/m(2)) subjects affected testosterone but not estradiol. The ratio of binding sites to SHBG protein levels was constant for testosterone, but not for estradiol. The influence of gender was maximal in morbid obesity, with men showing the highest binding/SHBG ratios.Conclusions: The results reported here are compatible with SHBG being a mixture of at least two functionally different hormone-binding globulins, being affected by obesity and gender and showing different structure, affinities for testosterone and estradiol and also different immunoreactivity