Obesity as an infectious disease– review of the literature

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
Iwona Bil-Lula ◽  
Anna Krzywonos-Zawadzka

Obesity, which is a pathological and excessive accumulation of body fat (WHO; World Health Organization), is the problem undertaken in the world literature for several decades. Significant mortality due to the obesity comorbidities is the basis to undertake an intensive work on the new preventive and therapeutic strategies worldwide. Nevertheless, due to the multifactorial origin of obesity and the growing number of obese subjects, the effectiveness of these strategies appears to be highly limited. Besides to the traditionally recognized etiological factors of obesity, many reports showing an association of infectious agents and uncontrolled weight gain have been published recently. In this paper we present an overview of reports confirming the association between infections and obesity. Data showed that a specific viral and bacterial infections as well as infections with protozoa and prions are associated with the increased intracellular accumulation of lipids, hypertrophy and hyperplasia of adipose tissue, body weight gain, increase of BMI and changes in lipid metabolism. These infections can serve as direct causal agents, but they can also interact with other environmental factors, thus increasing the predisposition to the development of obesity. There are at least a few hypotheses on the pathogenesis of “infectobesity.” There are some reports describing the damage of the central nervous system and hence the endocrine glands dysfunction due to infection, increased insulin susceptibility of infected cells, reduced production and release of leptin, increased glucose and fatty acids transport into adipocytes and inflammatory basis for infectobesity. Undoubtedly, awareness of the relationship between infections and obesity brings us closer to develop the effective preventive and therapeutic strategies, but it also raises the question about other, so far underestimated, environmental factors that increase the predisposition to obesity.

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
I Gusti Ayu Putu Eka-Pratiwi ◽  
Soetjiningsih Soetjiningsih ◽  
I Nyoman Mantik-Astawa ◽  
I Gusti Ayu Trisna Windiani

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng-Wei Wang ◽  
Wei-Hsin Lu ◽  
Yi-Lung Chen ◽  
Dian-Jeng Li ◽  
Yu-Ping Chang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a ‘public health emergency of international concern. Both worry and anxiety are the common psychological impact during the pandemic. The level of and determinants for worry and anxiety during COVID-19 are not well explored. OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to explore the associations of demographic and environmental factors with worry toward COVID-19 and general anxiety among people in Taiwan. METHODS In total, 1970 respondents were recruited through a Facebook advertisement and completed an online survey on worry toward COVID-19, general anxiety during the pandemic, and individual and environmental factors. RESULTS In total, 51.7% and 43.4% of respondents reported high levels of worry toward COVID-19 and general anxiety, respectively. Worse self-rated mental health, lower self-confidence in COVID-19 management, and insufficient mental health resources were significantly associated with high levels of both worry toward COVID-19 and general anxiety. Lower perceived confidence in COVID-19 management by the regional government was significantly associated with a higher level of worry toward COVID-19. Lower perceived social support was significantly associated with a higher level of general anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS The results showed that high levels of worry toward COVID-19 and general anxiety were prevalent during the disease outbreak. Multiple individual and environmental factors related to worry toward COVID-19 and general anxiety were identified. CLINICALTRIAL


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Sanghyeon Kim ◽  
Myongjin Kang ◽  
Sunseob Choi ◽  
Dae Cheol Kim

Pilomyxoid astrocytoma (PMA) is a rare central nervous system tumor that has been included in the 2007 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System. Due to its more aggressive behavior, PMA is classified as Grade II neoplasm by the World Health Organization. PMA predominantly affects the hypothalamic/chiasmatic region and occurs in children (mean age of occurrence = 10 months). We report a case of a 24-year-old man who presented with headache, nausea, and vomiting. Brain CT and MRI revealed a mass occupying only the third ventricle. We performed partial resection. Histological findings, including monophasic growth with a myxoid background, and absence of Rosenthal fibers or eosinophilic granular bodies, as well as the strong positivity for glial fibrillary acidic protein were consistent with PMA.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 781-781
Author(s):  
H. Peter Chase

The book consists of two parts, the first a collection of 23 invited papers or comments presented at the "Malnutrition and Mental Development" symposium held in Sweden in August 1973. The second and smaller part of the book consists of papers presented at the ensuing World Health Organization workshop on "Methodology in Studies of Early Malnutrition and Mental Development." The initial conference resulted in a valuable collection of papers, the major emphasis of which was that environmental factors interact with malnutrition to result in the lowered mental development found in children of undernourished, socially deprived societies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (11-12) ◽  
pp. e187-e200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Villa ◽  
Catherine Miquel ◽  
Dominic Mosses ◽  
Michèle Bernier ◽  
Anna Luisa Di Stefano

BMC Genomics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tungadri Bose ◽  
K. V. Venkatesh ◽  
Sharmila S. Mande

Abstract Background In 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) published a catalogue of 12 families of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” that are posing the greatest threats to human health. Six of these dreaded pathogens are known to infect the human gastrointestinal system. In addition to causing gastrointestinal and systemic infections, these pathogens can also affect the composition of other microbes constituting the healthy gut microbiome. Such aberrations in gut microbiome can significantly affect human physiology and immunity. Identifying the virulence mechanisms of these enteric pathogens are likely to help in developing newer therapeutic strategies to counter them. Results Using our previously published in silico approach, we have evaluated (and compared) Host-Pathogen Protein-Protein Interaction (HPI) profiles of four groups of enteric pathogens, namely, different species of Escherichia, Shigella, Salmonella and Vibrio. Results indicate that in spite of genus/ species specific variations, most enteric pathogens possess a common repertoire of HPIs. This core set of HPIs are probably responsible for the survival of these pathogen in the harsh nutrient-limiting environment within the gut. Certain genus/ species specific HPIs were also observed. Conslusions The identified bacterial proteins involved in the core set of HPIs are expected to be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis of these dreaded gut pathogens in greater detail. Possible role of genus/ species specific variations in the HPI profiles in the virulence of these pathogens are also discussed. The obtained results are likely to provide an opportunity for development of novel therapeutic strategies against the most dreaded gut pathogens.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (02) ◽  
pp. 128-136
Author(s):  
Gonçalo Cerdeira Figueiredo ◽  
Célia Maria Pinheiro ◽  
Alfredo Luís Calheiros

AbstractOligodendrogliomas are infiltrative tumors of the central nervous system considered to be morphologically stable and to offer a better prognosis. Here, we describe the case of a 36-year-old man with an initial diagnosis of oligodendroglioma, World Health Organization (WHO) grade II, who presented transformation to a sarcomatous form, while maintaining the oligodendroglial component as well as the genetic characteristics of the initial tumor without having undergone any complementary treatments previously. Despite the favorable genetic characteristics, the tumor presented poor response to complementary treatments, and rapid progression, including spinal metastasis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1057-1057
Author(s):  
Lucía Pienovi ◽  
Carmen Donangelo ◽  
Cecilia Severi

Abstract Objectives To compare the relationship between maternal weight gain during pregnancy and anthropometric indices of Uruguayan children under 4 years examined by two different criteria for adequate pregnancy weight gain: Atalah et al. (AEA) widely used in Latin America and Institute of Medicine (IOM). Methods Descriptive study of data from the First National Survey of Child Health, Nutrition and Development of Uruguay (ENDIS) of children (n = 1602; age 24.3 ± 10.6 months) recruited in 2013. Weight and height of the children were measured. Child birth weight (BW) and pregnancy weight gain (PregWG) were reported at the interview. PregWG was classified as adequate or excessive according to AEA and IOM criteria. Z scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ) and body mass index-for-age (BAZ) of the children were obtained from the Growth Patterns of World Health Organization. Results Prevalence of excessive PregWG was higher based on AEA (51.2%) compared to IOM (38.9%) criteria (P < 0.001). Excessive PregWG was associated with higher child BW compared to adequate PregWG using both criteria (AEA: 3361 ± 525 g and 3203–550 g, IOM: 3379 ± 543 g and 3224–534 g, respectively) (P < 0.001). Prevalence of macrosomic BW (>4000 g) with excessive PregWG was similar using AEA (10%) and IOM (12%). WAZ was higher with excessive compared to adequate PregWG using AEA (0.52 ± 1.07 and 0.32 ± 1.66, respectively) (P < 0.005) but not different by using IOM (0.51 ± 1.08 and 0.37 ± 1.55, respectively) (P = 0.057). HAZ was lower with excessive compared to adequate PregWG based on AEA (−0.4 ± 1.12 and −0.23 ± 1.10, respectively) (P = 0.001) but not different based on IOM (−0.7 ± 1.15 and −0.18 ± 1.09, respectively) (P = 0.057). WHZ and BAZ did not differ by PregWG categories using AEA or IOM. Conclusions Prevalence of excessive weight gain during pregnancy was higher using AEA compared to IOM criteria. However, only subtle differences in the associations between adequacy of pregnancy weight gain and child anthropometric indices were observed when using AEA or IOM criteria. Funding Sources Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Uruguay.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document