1,721,103 research outputs found
Editorial: Molecular nutrition as preventive tool in non-communicable diseases: Mechanistic insights and risk biomarkers
Full text linkNutrition has a crucial role in modulating aging trajectories. Diet is not a mere source of energy, but it also affects immune functions, inflammatory status, epigenetic regulations, and gene expression. Also, diet affect the gut microbiome composition, thus modulating the metabolites produced by the microorganisms, which can have both positive and negative effects on health.
Due to their action at the level of several biochemical and molecular pathways, dietary habits have a major role in the development and progression of complex non-communicable diseases (NCD) (e.g., obesity, cardio-metabolic disorders, neurodegeneration), which represent a major burden for the modern society. A plethora of bioactive compounds, nutrients and dietary patterns have been described as potential discriminants of the health status. Some metabolites have been also proposed as risk biomarkers for non-communicable diseases (e.g., trimethylamine n-oxide), thus opening interesting possibilities for prevention interventions and population risk stratification. Nevertheless, elucidating the exact molecular mechanism underpinning the effects of each dietary factor remains an ambitious goal of modern nutrition. This special issue aims at gathering new findings that might contribute to fill the gaps in this still marginally explored area
Potential relationship between dietary long-chain saturated fatty acids and hypothalamic dysfunction in obesity
No full textDiet-induced hypothalamic inflammation, which leads to hypothalamic dysfunction and a loss of regulation of energy balance, is emerging as a potential driver of obesity. Excessive intake of long-chain saturated fatty acids is held to be the causative dietary component in hypothalamic inflammation. This review summarizes current evidence on the role of long-chain saturated fatty acids in promoting hypothalamic inflammation and the related induction of central insulin and leptin insensitivity. Particularly, the present review focuses on the molecular mechanisms linking long-chain saturated fatty acids and hypothalamic inflammation, emphasizing the metabolic fate of fatty acids and the resulting lipotoxicity, which is a key driver of hypothalamic dysfunction. In conclusion, long-chain saturated fatty acids are key nutrients that promote hypothalamic inflammation and dysfunction by fostering the build-up of lipotoxic lipid species, such as ceramide. Furthermore, when long-chain saturated fatty acids are consumed in combination with high levels of refined carbohydrates, the proinflammatoty effects are exacerbated via a mechanism that relies on the formation of advanced glycation end products
Food Bioactives: Impact on Brain and Cardiometabolic Health-Findings from In Vitro to Human Studies
Full text linkModern society is currently (and probably more than ever) immersed in the changing concept of food, seeking the beneficial functions of foods rather than only as a mean to quench hunger and support basic nutritional needs [...].</p
Diabetes, a Contemporary Risk for Parkinson’s Disease: Epidemiological and Cellular Evidences
Full text linkDiabetes mellitus (DM), a group of diseases characterized by defective glucose metabolism, is the most widespread metabolic disorder affecting over 400 million adults worldwide. This pathological condition has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of central encephalopathies and peripheral neuropathies. In further support of this notion, recent epidemiological evidence suggests a link between DM and Parkinson’s disease (PD), with hyperglycemia emerging as one of the culprits in neurodegeneration involving the nigrostriatal pathway, the neuroanatomical substrate of the motor symptoms affecting parkinsonian patients. Indeed, dopaminergic neurons located in the mesencephalic substantia nigra appear to be particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress and degeneration, likely because of their intrinsic susceptibility to mitochondrial dysfunction, which may represent a direct consequence of hyperglycemia and hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress. Other pathological pathways induced by increased intracellular glucose levels, including the polyol and the hexosamine pathway as well as the formation of advanced glycation end-products, may all play a pivotal role in mediating the detrimental effects of hyperglycemia on nigral dopaminergic neurons. In this review article, we will examine the epidemiological as well as the molecular and cellular clues supporting the potential susceptibility of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons to hyperglycemia
Restituire, lenire, ridistribuire / Return, Heal, Redistribute
No full textThe issue analyzes the very urgent theme of the repatriation of looted objects from different angles, focussing both on the material and immaterial aspects and involving a number of different practices coming from the fields of performance, archeology, diplomacy, etc
Mitochondrion at the crossroads between nutrients and the epigenome
No full textThe modulation of gene expression is a pivotal regulatory mechanism by which cells adapt to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, including nutrition. In this context, the epigenome (i.e., the collection of biochemical modifications to the genome that do not affect the DNA sequence but determine whether genes are switched on or off) represents a crucial modulator of gene expression, with epigenetic modifications being finely tuned by extracellular and intracellular signals. At the same time, cellular responses to environmental cues are mediated, at least in part, by the mitochondria, that regulate both energetic and redox homeostasis. Recently, a tight link between epigenetic and mitochondrial metabolism has been described. This relationship is further supported by the fact that mitochondria contain their own DNA, which is a circular double-stranded molecule, present in multiple copies in each mitochondrion and that also undergo epigenetic modifications. Moreover, a pivotal role of nutrition in affecting both epigenetic and mitochondrial dynamics and function has been highlighted. While the role of nutrition in modulating mitochondrial functions is extensively discussed in other sections of this book, this chapter will focus on the impact of nutrition in boosting epigenetic regulations and on the role of the mitochondria in mediating this complex relationship
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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