Caloric restriction of db/db mice reverts hepatic steatosis and body weight with divergent hepatic metabolism

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most frequent causes of liver disease and its prevalence is a serious and growing clinical problem. Caloric restriction (CR) is commonly recommended for improvement of obesity-related diseases such as NAFLD. However, the effects of CR on hepatic metabolism remain unknown. We investigated the effects of CR on metabolic dysfunction in the liver of obese diabetic db/db mice. We found that CR of db/db mice reverted insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, body weight and adiposity to those of db/m mice. H-NMR- and UPLC-QTOF-MS-based metabolite profiling data showed significant metabolic alterations related to lipogenesis, ketogenesis, and inflammation in db/db mice. Moreover, western blot analysis showed that lipogenesis pathway enzymes in the liver of db/db mice were reduced by CR. In addition, CR reversed ketogenesis pathway enzymes and the enhanced autophagy, mitochondrial biogenesis, collagen deposition and endoplasmic reticulum stress in db/db mice. In particular, hepatic inflammation-related proteins including lipocalin-2 in db/db mice were attenuated by CR. Hepatic metabolomic studies yielded multiple pathological mechanisms of NAFLD. Also, these findings showed that CR has a therapeutic effect by attenuating the deleterious effects of obesity and diabetes-induced multiple complications

Effect of Ce addition on macroscopic core-shell structure of Cu-Sn-Bi immiscible alloy

To investigate the evolution of bimetallic composite structure of immiscible alloy, a macroscopic core-shell type structure of 24Cu-16Sn-608i alloy was fabricated which consisted of (Cu(3)Sn, Cu(10)Sn(3)) central core and Bi periphery. Ce addition was found to be capable of enhancing remarkably Marangoni motion of secondary droplets in liquid matrix. The role of Ce addition was attributed to change interfacial tension of droplet/matrix. The results show the possibility of modulating core-shell type structure in immiscible materials by doping rare earth elements. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved