Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism最新文献

Metabolic resilience is essential for organismal homeostasis under diverse external pressures, because responding and adapting to stressors requires energy and drives changes at every omic level. The goal of this paper is to synthesize recent advances in understanding the intricate interplay, especially between metabolic and transcriptomic responses, involved in addressing external perturbations. We highlight the importance of timing and sequence in immediate and long-term adjustments; furthermore, we underscore the evolutionary significance of metabolic resilience and its potential for developing innovative therapeutic interventions, making it a timely contribution to contemporary biological, biomedical, and environmental research fields.

Circadian rhythms are cell-intrinsic time-keeping mechanisms that allow organisms to adapt to 24-h environmental changes, ensuring coordinated physiological functions by aligning internal metabolic oscillations with external timing cues. Disruption of daily metabolic rhythms is associated with pathological events such as cancer development, yet the mechanisms by which perturbed metabolic rhythms contribute to tumorigenesis remain unclear. Herein we review how circadian clocks drive balanced rhythmic metabolism which in turn governs physiological functions of locomotor, immune, and neuroendocrine systems. Misaligned metabolic rhythms cause pathological states which further drive cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis. Restoring the balance of metabolic rhythms with chemical, hormonal, and behavioral interventions serves as a promising strategy for cancer therapy.

The neuropeptide kisspeptin activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and influences neural circuits controlling sexual behavior. Animal studies have determined its sex-specific roles in reproductive behaviors, whereas human research has linked kisspeptin to increased brain activity in regions associated with sexual and emotional processing, making it a potential treatment for disorders of sexual desire. Here I discuss the current evidence on the promise of kisspeptin as a therapy for sexual dysfunction, highlight the challenges currently hindering its application, and advocate future studies focusing on sex-specific effects and interactions within the neuroendocrine system. Understanding its broader physiological roles and improving delivery methods will be key to unlocking kisspeptin's therapeutic potential.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a complex and rapidly progressive motor neuron disorder with a fatal outcome. Despite the remarkable progress in understanding ALS pathophysiology, which has significantly contributed to clinical trial design, ALS remains a rapidly disabling and life-shortening condition. The non-motor neuron features of ALS, including nutritional status, energy expenditure, and metabolic imbalance, are increasingly gaining attention. Indeed, the bioenergetic failure and mitochondrial dysfunction of patients with ALS impact not only the high energy-demanding motor neurons but also organs and brain areas long considered irrelevant to the disease. As such, here we discuss how considering energy balance in ALS is reshaping research on this disease, opening the path to novel targetable opportunities for its treatment.

Dysregulation of immune homeostasis can precipitate chronic inflammation, thus significantly contributing to the onset and progression of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) constitute a heterogeneous population of immature myeloid cells that are mobilized in response to biological stressors such as tissue damage and inflammation. Although MDSCs have been extensively characterized in the contexts of cancer and infectious diseases, emerging evidence highlights their pivotal roles in the pathophysiology of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders. We discuss growing evidence for the involvement of MDSCs in the progression of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, with the aim of deepening our understanding of MDSCs in cardiometabolic physiology and identifying the necessary steps for the development of innovative MDSC-targeted therapeutic strategies.