Category Health/Medical

Highlights •CK2 is preferentially activated in white fat by norepinephrine and under obesity •CK2 inhibition in white fat activates thermogenesis in response to cAMP stimuli •CK2 inhibition increases UCP1-dependent energy expenditure in vivo •CK2 inhibition ameliorates diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance

Drugs that flip this switch rapidly reduced obesity and diabetes risk factors in mice fed a high fat diet. The results suggest that drugs capable of targeting similar molecular pathways in human fat cells could one day become major tools for fighting the growing worldwide epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

All mammals, including humans, have two types of fat with completely opposite functions: white, which stores energy and is linked with diabetes and obesity; and br...

A new study highlights the importance of the gut microbiome in maintaining intestinal and metabolic health and suggests that eating more foods high in soluble fiber may help prevent metabolic disease and obesity.

Eating too much high-fat, high-calorie food is considered the primary cause of obesity and obesity-related disease, including diabetes. While the excess calories consumed are a direct cause of the fat accumulation, scientists suspect that low-grade inflammation due to an altered gut microbiome may also be involved. A new study finds in mice that a diet missing soluble fiber promotes inflammation in the intestines and poor gut health, leading to weight gain. Moreover, incorporating soluble fiber back into the diet can restore gut health.

Georgia State University team examined...

This new single-agent phototherapy system may form a valuable new approach to fighting cancer. Credit: Graphic courtesy of Oregon State University

Oregon State University today announced an important advance in the field of cancer imaging and phototherapy. It uses a single chemical compound, silicon naphthalocyanine, that has both diagnostic and therapeutic value. It makes cancer cells glow when exposed to near-infrared light, so a surgeon can identify the cancer and remove it + the compound creates heat and reactive oxygen species within any remaining cancer cells, killing them.

In tests completed with laboratory animals, tumors were completely eradicated without side effects, and did not return...