Recent advances in managing/understanding the metabolic syndrome

Abstract

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) concept gathers in a single entity a set of metabolic abnormalities that have in common a close relationship with ectopic deposit of lipids, insulin resistance, and chronic low-grade inflammation. It is a valuable teaching tool to help health professionals to understand and integrate the consequences of lipotoxicity and the adverse metabolic consequences of insulin resistance. Also, it is useful to identify subjects with a high risk for having incident type 2 diabetes. Systems biology studies have gained a prominent role in understanding the interaction between adipose tissue dysfunction, insulin action, and the MetS traits and co-morbidities (that is, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH). This approach may allow the identification of new therapeutic targets (that is, de novo lipogenesis inhibitors for NASH). Treatment targets on MetS are the adoption of a healthy lifestyle, weight loss, and the control of the co-morbidities (hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, among others). The long-term goals are the prevention of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular events, and other MetS-related outcomes. In the last few decades, new drugs derived from the identification of innovative treatment targets have come on the market. These drugs have positive effects on more than one MetS component (that is, hyperglycemia and weight control). New potential treatment targets are under study.

Commonalities in Management and Husbandry Factors Important for Health and Welfare of Captive Elephants in North America and Thailand

“…55 Being overweight can have physiological consequences. Obesity is the most common component of metabolic syndrome (i.e., hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance) in humans [47][48][49][50] and also occurs in horses [51]-a model species often used to assess nutritional needs of elephants. Both horses and elephants are hind gut fermenters with similar dietary requirements and are both able to utilize large quantities of low-quality, high-fiber foods [52].…”

Circulating miRNAs as a Predictive Biomarker of the Progression from Prediabetes to Diabetes: Outcomes of a 5-Year Prospective Observational Study

“…Therefore, not only can individual risk factors for T2DM (e.g., obesity, first degree relative with diabetes, and hypertension) be used to define populations at-risk for diabetes, but also, a combination of risk factors, named metabolic syndrome (MetS). MetS is a cluster of several characteristics, including obesity (especially abdominal adiposity), glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, microalbuminuria, hypertension, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), polycystic ovarian syndrome, the proinflammatory state, and oxidative stress, resulting in an increased risk of T2DM [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. However, their predictive value is poorer than that of prediabetes [ 10 ].…”

The Effect of Probiotics and Synbiotics on Risk Factors Associated with Cardiometabolic Diseases in Healthy People—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with Meta-Regression of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Metabolic malfunctions of diverse nature, with epigenetic, hormonal, and infectious factors, are involved in the pathogenesis [ 6 , 7 ]. Intestinal microbiota actively participating in metabolism is an important factor regulating body metabolism [ 8 ].…”