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Leptin-Mediated Changes in the Human Metabolome.
Lawler, K, Huang-Doran, I, Sonoyama, T, Collet, TH, Keogh, JM, Henning, E, O'Rahilly, S, Bottolo, L, Farooqi, IS
The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. 2020;(8):2541-52
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Abstract
CONTEXT While severe obesity due to congenital leptin deficiency is rare, studies in patients before and after treatment with leptin can provide unique insights into the role that leptin plays in metabolic and endocrine function. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to characterize changes in peripheral metabolism in people with congenital leptin deficiency undergoing leptin replacement therapy, and to investigate the extent to which these changes are explained by reduced caloric intake. DESIGN Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to measure 661 metabolites in 6 severely obese people with congenital leptin deficiency before, and within 1 month after, treatment with recombinant leptin. Data were analyzed using unsupervised and hypothesis-driven computational approaches and compared with data from a study of acute caloric restriction in healthy volunteers. RESULTS Leptin replacement was associated with class-wide increased levels of fatty acids and acylcarnitines and decreased phospholipids, consistent with enhanced lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation. Primary and secondary bile acids increased after leptin treatment. Comparable changes were observed after acute caloric restriction. Branched-chain amino acids and steroid metabolites decreased after leptin, but not after acute caloric restriction. Individuals with severe obesity due to leptin deficiency and other genetic obesity syndromes shared a metabolomic signature associated with increased BMI. CONCLUSION Leptin replacement was associated with changes in lipolysis and substrate utilization that were consistent with negative energy balance. However, leptin's effects on branched-chain amino acids and steroid metabolites were independent of reduced caloric intake and require further exploration.
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Hepatic focal nodular hyperplasia after pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: The impact of hormonal replacement therapy and iron overload.
Cattoni, A, Rovelli, A, Prunotto, G, Bonanomi, S, Invernizzi, P, Perego, R, Mariani, AM, Balduzzi, A
Pediatric blood & cancer. 2020;(4):e28137
Abstract
BACKGROUND The advent of techniques for the assessment of iron overload (liver T2*-MRI) has led to the awareness that focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) represents a possible incidental finding after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), though its pathogenesis is still unclear. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of the liver T2*-MRI scans performed between 2013 and 2018 in a single pediatric HSCT Unit and recorded the number of patients with FNH (group A). Patients incidentally diagnosed with FNH at imaging performed for different clinical indications were included in group B. RESULTS Nine of 105 (8.6%) patients from group A were diagnosed with FNH. Group B included three patients. Overall, 12 patients were diagnosed 4.4 ± 3.1 years after HSCT. At univariate analysis, female gender (odds ratio [OR] 3.77, P = .03), moderate-to-severe iron overload (OR 6.97, P = .01), and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) administered for at least 6 months (OR 18.20, P = .0002) exposed patients to a higher risk of developing FNH. The detrimental effect of HRT was significant also at multivariate analysis (OR 7.93, P = .024). MRI-T2* values in affected patients were statistically lower than healthy controls (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS We confirm the high incidence of FNH among transplanted pediatric patients and demonstrate the potential pathogenic role of HRT and iron overload.