About this Research Topic
This Research Topic of Frontiers in Endocrinology aims to address the interaction of brain processes, behavior and peripheral metabolism with a focus on diabetes.
The prevalence of obesity and diabetes has reached alarming rates worldwide, affecting both developing and developed countries. In spite of considerable global economic, social and health efforts, the pandemic continues to expand due to the lack of success in the search of efficient and safe medical interventions in tackling this prevalence. Given the urgency for prevention and/or treatment, the scientific community has intensified efforts to better understand the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of these metabolic diseases. However, over the last decades most of research was mainly focused on exploring the peripheral mechanisms associated with these diseases rather than further understanding brain function over metabolic control. Importantly, clinical studies have recently reported that being obese and diabetic is associated with poor brain health including alterations of how the brain works, including abnormalities in food reward and hormone sensing- dependent neuronal activity, as well as alterations in brain structure consisting of glia-vascular dysfunction, inflammatory processes and decreased hippocampal volume, all of which are well-known signs of aging and neuronal dysfunction. However, the interactions and cause-and-effect relationships, maternal influence and the time course of the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes, are still not well understood. Importantly most of the clinical outcomes are consistent with what has been observed in animal models, which consequently provide a strong opportunity to generate novel noninvasive measurements in obese and diabetic humans with ultimate goal for improved pharmacological strategies to prevent and treat metabolic diseases.
To update the readers about the important investigations that have contributed/are contributing to move forward the knowledge in the field, we propose to include in this collection the following topics:
- Animal and human studies to decipher the interaction of brain and metabolic processes.
- The autonomic system as a mediator of brain and metabolic interactions.
- Neuronal and glial contribution to metabolic diseases and diabetes.
- Developmental trajectories of brain and metabolic processes over the life span (fetal programming, cognitive decline in elderly).
- Brain vascularization and inflammation in diabetes.
- Brain based treatment approaches for diabetes and metabolic diseases.
The articles are particularly dedicated to intersectorial interested readers working in the field of (developmental) neuroscience, neurology, endocrinology, diabetology and metabolism.
The prevalence of obesity and diabetes has reached alarming rates worldwide, affecting both developing and developed countries. In spite of considerable global economic, social and health efforts, the pandemic continues to expand due to the lack of success in the search of efficient and safe medical interventions in tackling this prevalence. Given the urgency for prevention and/or treatment, the scientific community has intensified efforts to better understand the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of these metabolic diseases. However, over the last decades most of research was mainly focused on exploring the peripheral mechanisms associated with these diseases rather than further understanding brain function over metabolic control. Importantly, clinical studies have recently reported that being obese and diabetic is associated with poor brain health including alterations of how the brain works, including abnormalities in food reward and hormone sensing- dependent neuronal activity, as well as alterations in brain structure consisting of glia-vascular dysfunction, inflammatory processes and decreased hippocampal volume, all of which are well-known signs of aging and neuronal dysfunction. However, the interactions and cause-and-effect relationships, maternal influence and the time course of the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes, are still not well understood. Importantly most of the clinical outcomes are consistent with what has been observed in animal models, which consequently provide a strong opportunity to generate novel noninvasive measurements in obese and diabetic humans with ultimate goal for improved pharmacological strategies to prevent and treat metabolic diseases.
To update the readers about the important investigations that have contributed/are contributing to move forward the knowledge in the field, we propose to include in this collection the following topics:
- Animal and human studies to decipher the interaction of brain and metabolic processes.
- The autonomic system as a mediator of brain and metabolic interactions.
- Neuronal and glial contribution to metabolic diseases and diabetes.
- Developmental trajectories of brain and metabolic processes over the life span (fetal programming, cognitive decline in elderly).
- Brain vascularization and inflammation in diabetes.
- Brain based treatment approaches for diabetes and metabolic diseases.
The articles are particularly dedicated to intersectorial interested readers working in the field of (developmental) neuroscience, neurology, endocrinology, diabetology and metabolism.
Keywords: Type 2 diabetes, organ crosstalk, neuronal and non-neuronal brain processes, development
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