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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Treatment of male sand rats kept on a balanced laboratory chow diet ad libitum with beta,beta'-tetramethyl-substituted hexadecanedioic acid (MEDICA 16) resulted in a hypolipidemic effect accompanied by an extensive reduction in adiposity, with a concomitant hypoglycemic-hypoinsulinemic effect. The overall effect was sustained as long as the drug was administered. The hypolipidemic effect of MEDICA 16 consisted of a 70 and 40% decrease in plasma triacylglycerols and cholesterol, respectively, and resulted from inhibition of liver lipogenesis and cholesterogenesis. Adipose reduction by MEDICA 16 treatment or calorie restriction consisted of a 75-90% decrease in the perirenal, omental, epididymal, and subcutaneous fat, with a 50% decrease in liver neutral lipids. The reduction in adiposity was accounted for by a respective decrease in the lipid content of individual adipocytes, with a concomitant decrease in the number of adipocytes of selected adipose tissues. The decrease induced in adiposity by MEDICA 16 treatment could not be accounted for by anorectic or cathartic effects of the drug. The hypoglycemic-hypoinsulinemic effect of MEDICA 16 consisted of amelioration of the tolerance of glucose with normalization of plasma insulin. It was accompanied by an eightfold increase in the number of insulin receptors in epididymal adipocytes, which was, however, counteracted by a decrease in their affinity for insulin. The receptor and postreceptor effects exerted by MEDICA 16 were similar to those of calorie restriction. The overall effect of MEDICA 16 in sand rats may reflect the pharmacological potential of MEDICA compounds in pathological hyperlipidemic-obesity-diabetic syndromes.
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PMID:Hypolipidemic, antiobesity, and hypoglycemic-hypoinsulinemic effects of beta,beta'-methyl-substituted hexadecanedioic acid in sand rats. 305 60

Beta,beta'-methyl-substituted hexadecanedioic acid (MEDICA 16) consists of a nonmetabolizable long-chain fatty acid designed to probe the effect exerted by fatty acids on insulin sensitivity. The effect of MEDICA 16 was evaluated in insulin-resistant Zucker (fa/fa) rats in terms of liver, muscle, and adipose tissue response to clamped euglycemic hyperinsulinemia in vivo. Nontreated Zucker rats were insulin resistant, maintaining basal rates of total-body glucose disposal, glucose production in liver, free fatty acid (FFA) flux into plasma, and FFA reesterification in adipose tissue, irrespective of the insulin levels induced. MEDICA 16 treatment resulted in an insulin-induced decrease in hepatic glucose production, together with an insulin-induced increase in total-body glucose disposal. Intracellular reesterification of lipolysed FFA in adipose tissue was specifically activated by MEDICA 16, resulting in a pronounced decrease in FFA release, with a concomitant decrease in plasma FFA. In conclusion, MEDICA 16 treatment results in the sensitization of liver, muscle, and adipose tissue to insulin in an animal model for obesity-induced insulin resistance.
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PMID:Sensitization to insulin induced by beta,beta'-methyl-substituted hexadecanedioic acid (MEDICA 16) in obese Zucker rats in vivo. 939 80

The human intestine is home to a diverse range of bacterial and fungal species, forming an ecological community that contributes to normal physiology and disease susceptibility. Here, the fungal microbiota (mycobiome) in obese and non-obese subjects was characterized using Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS)-based sequencing. The results demonstrate that obese patients could be discriminated by their specific fungal composition, which also distinguished metabolically "healthy" from "unhealthy" obesity. Clusters according to genus abundance co-segregated with body fatness, fasting triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol. A preliminary link to metabolites such as hexadecanedioic acid, caproic acid and N-acetyl-L-glutamic acid was also found. Mucor racemosus and M. fuscus were the species more represented in non-obese subjects compared to obese counterparts. Interestingly, the decreased relative abundance of the Mucor genus in obese subjects was reversible upon weight loss. Collectively, these findings suggest that manipulation of gut mycobiome communities might be a novel target in the treatment of obesity.
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PMID:Obesity changes the human gut mycobiome. 2690 81