ObjectiveGut microbiota have been linked to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) is a gram-negative anaerobic bacterium that is selectively decreased in the faecal microbiota of patients with IBD, but its causative role and molecular mechanism in blunting colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) remain inconclusive. This study investigates how A. muciniphila engages the immune response in CAC.DesignMice were given dextran sulfate sodium to induce colitis, followed by azoxymethane to establish CAC with or without pasteurised A. muciniphila or a specific outer membrane protein (Amuc_1100) treatment. Faeces from mice and patients with IBD or CRC were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing. The effects of A. muciniphila or Amuc_1100 on the immune response in acute colitis and CAC were investigated.ResultsA. muciniphila was significantly reduced in patients with IBD and mice with colitis or CAC. A. muciniphila or Amuc_1100 could improve colitis, with a reduction in infiltrating macrophages and CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in the colon. Their treatment also decreased CD16/32+ macrophages in the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) of colitis mice. Amuc_1100 elevated PD-1+ CTLs in the spleen. Moreover, A. muciniphila and Amuc_1100 blunted tumourigenesis by expanding CTLs in the colon and MLN. Remarkably, they activated CTLs in the MLN, as indicated by TNF-α induction and PD-1downregulation. Amuc_1100 could stimulate and activate CTLs from splenocytes in CT26 cell conditioned medium.ConclusionsThese data indicate that pasteurised A. muciniphila or Amuc_1100 can blunt colitis and CAC through the modulation of CTLs.

Emotion regulation (ER) refers to the “implementation of a conscious or non-conscious goal to start, stop or otherwise modulate the trajectory of an emotion” (Etkin et al., 2015). Whereas multiple brain areas have been found to be involved in ER, relatively little is known about whether and how ER is associated with the global functioning of brain networks. Recent advances in brain connectivity research using graph-theory based analysis have shown that the brain can be organized into complex networks composed of functionally or structurally connected brain areas. Global efficiency is one graphic metric indicating the efficiency of information exchange among brain areas and is utilized to measure global functioning of brain networks. The present study examined the relationship between trait measures of ER (expressive suppression (ES) and cognitive reappraisal (CR)) and global efficiency in resting-state functional brain networks (the whole brain network and ten predefined networks) using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that ES was reliably associated with efficiency in the fronto-parietal network and default-mode network. The finding advances the understanding of neural substrates of ER, revealing the relationship between ES and efficient organization of brain networks.

Cognitive deficits play a role in the development and maintenance of overeating and obesity, and cognitive training in obesity refers to a family of interventions aimed at reducing overeating and obesity by improving these cognitive deficits. In this review, we synthesize the current literature on these issues by conducting a meta-analysis of studies investigating the effects of cognitive trainings on eating behaviour and presenting a systematic review of studies investigating the effects of cognitive trainings on weight loss. We examined 66 independent experiments that examined the effects of cognitive training aimed at reducing cognitive bias or improving executive control on eating behaviour and weight loss. Overall, inhibition training, attention bias modification training, and episodic future thinking training significantly influenced eating behaviour; however, approach/avoidance training did not significantly influence eating behaviour. Moderator analyses indicated that the effect of inhibition training on eating behaviour was moderated by training task and food novelty, the effect of approach/avoidance training was moderated by food type, and the effect of episodic future thinking training was moderated by type of episodic future thinking. Literature reviewed on cognitive training and weight loss provided preliminary support for the effects of food-specific inhibition training on weight loss from pre-intervention to post intervention. However, because most of the included studies focused on short-term outcomes in normal-weight samples, longer duration studies in clinical populations (eg, individuals with obesity) are needed to examine the generalizability of these results. KEYWORDS cognitive training, eating behaviour, meta-analysis, weight loss 1 | INTRODUCTION Excess weight has become a cause of growing health care costs and accounts for over 2.8 million deaths per year, 1 emphasizing the need for effective treatment. In order to promote weight loss, interventions such as behavioural interventions or bariatric surgery are frequently implemented. However, the amount of weight loss achieved via behavioural weight loss interventions is, at best, only modest and rarely does it last. 2 Although bariatric surgery is an effective weight loss intervention for severe obesity, it is highly invasive and can result in medical complications. 3 Therefore, it is vital to identify novel, noninvasive interventions that foster weight loss. Recent literature emphasizes the importance of cognitive mechanisms in the regulation of eating behaviour and body weight. 4-7 Manypeople nowadays live in an obesogenic food environment and are constantly exposed to appetitive yet unhealthy foods, especially those that contain much sugar and fat. 8 In such an environment, unhealthy eating behaviour (eg, forgoing healthy foods in favour of inexpensive,

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