Gut-central nervous system axis is a target for nutritional therapies

Historically, in the 1950s, the chemist Linus Pauling established a relationship between decreased longevity and obesity. At this time, with the advent of studies involving the mechanisms that modulate appetite control, some researchers observed that the hypothalamus is the "appetite centre" and that peripheral tissues have important roles in the modulation of gut inflammatory processes and levels of hormones that control food intake. Likewise, the advances of physiological and molecular mechanisms for patients with obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel diseases, bariatric surgery and anorexia-associated diseases has been greatly appreciated by nutritionists. Therefore, this review highlights the relationship between the gut-central nervous system axis and targets for nutritional therapies

Topographic mapping of VMH -> arcuate nucleus microcircuits and their reorganization by fasting

In the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus ( ARC), pro-opiomelanocortin ( POMC) neurons inhibit feeding and neuropeptide-Y (NPY) neurons stimulate feeding. We tested whether neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH), a known satiety center, activate anorexigenic neuronal pathways in the ARC by projecting either excitatory synaptic inputs to POMC neurons and/or inhibitory inputs to NPY neurons. Using laser scanning photostimulation in brain slices from transgenic mice, we found that POMC and NPY neurons, which are interspersed in the ARC, are nevertheless regulated by anatomically distinct synaptic inputs. POMC neurons received strong excitatory input from the medial VMH (mVMH), whereas NPY neurons did not and, instead, received weak inhibitory input only from within the ARC. The strength of the excitatory input from the mVMH to POMC neurons was diminished by fasting. These data identify a new molecularly defined circuit that is dynamically regulated by nutritional state in a manner consistent with the known role of the VMH as a satiety center

Hookworm Infection in Oceania

Hookworm disease and its associated morbidities continue to be a major public health problem in many tropical and subtropical nations and remain endemic throughout the Oceania region. Three species of hookworm cause patent infection in humans in this region: Necator americanus, Ancylostoma duodenale and Ancylostoma ceylanicum. Historical hookworm infection rates of up to 90 % throughout many parts of Oceania have significantly declined; however, the disease remains a major problem requiring ongoing public health intervention. The effectiveness of such interventions is evident in northern Australia, where once widespread hookworm disease is now limited to a few remaining endemic foci of isolated communities in the far north of the country. Outside of Australia, there is limited data available in the literature on hookworm prevalence, but a few recent (since 2000) studies have found hookworm prevalence rates of between 3 and 23 %. Infections with A. caninum, leading to eosinophilic enteritis, and sporadic cases cutaneous larva migrans caused by dermal migration of animal hookworm larva are also reported from several regions. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of both the historical and current literature on species of hookworms infecting humans and the geographical prevalence and distribution of hookworm disease in the Oceania region