Since the affiliation of our research team at Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Deu, a fruitful program of collaborative research in pediatric endocrinology has developed with the team leaded by Dr. Lourdes Ibàñez. Recent results on the importance of sex differences in brown fat activity in the first year of life and the role of the batokine CXCL14 have been presented at the III IRSJD Scientific Meeting held at Facultat de Biologia, University of Barcelona, the last October, 28 These results have been recently published at J Clin Endocr Metab.
Obesity is expanding in dogs leading to disease conditions in these domestic pets and affecting their quality of life and that from their owners. Moreover, management of obesity in pets has relevant economic implications. F.Villarroya participated as invited speaker in the on-line symposium with a presentation on the mechanisms involved in the pathogenic consequences of hypertrophied fat, plasticity of adipose tissue and evidence of these phenomena in dogs.
The event of presentation of Sanna Laurila thesis, from the PET laboratory at the University of Turku, took place last 13 August, with Francesc Villarroya acting as opponent, a honorary role for doctorate qualification in the Finish University. The work by S.Laurila was related to the role of secretin in the control of human brown adipose tissue activity and was developed in the laboratory of K.Virtanen and P.Nuutila, international leader in research on human brown fat.
In line with our affiliation to Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), we participated in a study published recently in Science Translational Medicine (DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb0322), the prestigious journal from the Science group. This research, led by Dr. Carles Lerin at IRSJD, identified an inverse relationship between maternal breast milk betaine content and infant growth, and it was demonstrated that maternal betaine supplementation during lactation induced a transient increase in offspring intestinal Akkermansia abundance, and reduced early weight gain. Furthermore, it was shown that maternal betaine supplementation decreased adiposity and improved glucose metabolism throughout adulthood, demonstrating a link between breast milk betaine content and long-term metabolic health. Our participation in this study is a follow up of our long standing research on the molecular basis of the healthy properties of breastfeeding.
A recent article (https://journals.plos.org/
Albert Mestres Arenas, PhD student at our team, has been awarded by "Comissió de dinamització Lingüística de la Facultat de Biologia UB" with the prize to the best graduation thesis document written in Catalan (academic year 2019-20) for his work “Caracterització fenotípica del teixit adipós perivascular aòrtic i estudi comparatiu amb altres dipòsits adiposos”, developed at our laboratory. Congratulations!
The Journal of Endocrinology is an official journal of the Society for Endocrinology and is endorsed by the European Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society of Australia.
The "Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu" (IRSJD) has been recognized by the Board of Trustees of the Institution of the Research Centers of Catalonia (CERCA) as a CERCA center. This implies the recognition of the frontier biomedical research developed at IRSJD and oriented to the improvement of quality of life in children and adults. The CERCA recognition implies entering the Catalan research structure, as a top quality research center showing efficient management, and will allow access to additional funds to develop scientific activities.
Our research team has been part of IRSJD for a few years, which has enhanced our translational research in metabolism and endocrinology in collaboration with clinics at Sant Joan de Déu hospital. Examples of our translational research in pediatrics follow:
Reduced circulating levels of chemokine CXCL14 in adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome: normalization after insulin sensitization.
García-Beltran C, Cereijo R, Quesada-López T, Malpique R, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Ibáñez L, Villarroya F.
BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2020 Feb;8(1):e001035.
Circulating growth-and-differentiation factor-15 in early life: relation to prenatal and postnatal growth and adiposity measurements.
Díaz M, Campderrós L, Guimaraes MP, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Villarroya F, Ibáñez L.
Pediatr Res. 2020 Apr;87(5):897-902.
Growth Differentiation Factor 15 is a potential biomarker of therapeutic response for TK2 deficient myopathy.
Dominguez-Gonzalez C, Badosa C, Madruga-Garrido M, Martí I, Paradas C, Ortez C, Diaz-Manera J, Berardo A, Alonso-Pérez J, Trifunov S, Cuadras D, Kalko SG, Blázquez-Bermejo C, Cámara Y, Martí R, Mavillard F, Martin MA, Montoya J, Ruiz-Pesini E, Villarroya J, Montero R, Villarroya F, Artuch R, Hirano M, Nascimento A, Jimenez-Mallebrera C.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 22;10(1):10111.
García-Beltran C, Cereijo R, Quesada-López T, Malpique R, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Ibáñez L, Villarroya F.
BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2020 Feb;8(1):e001035.
Circulating growth-and-differentiation factor-15 in early life: relation to prenatal and postnatal growth and adiposity measurements.
Díaz M, Campderrós L, Guimaraes MP, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Villarroya F, Ibáñez L.
Pediatr Res. 2020 Apr;87(5):897-902.
Growth Differentiation Factor 15 is a potential biomarker of therapeutic response for TK2 deficient myopathy.
Dominguez-Gonzalez C, Badosa C, Madruga-Garrido M, Martí I, Paradas C, Ortez C, Diaz-Manera J, Berardo A, Alonso-Pérez J, Trifunov S, Cuadras D, Kalko SG, Blázquez-Bermejo C, Cámara Y, Martí R, Mavillard F, Martin MA, Montoya J, Ruiz-Pesini E, Villarroya J, Montero R, Villarroya F, Artuch R, Hirano M, Nascimento A, Jimenez-Mallebrera C.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 22;10(1):10111.
Brown adipose tissue in prepubertal children: associations with sex, birthweight, and metabolic profile.
Malpique R, Gallego-Escuredo JM, Sebastiani G, Villarroya J, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Villarroya F, Ibáñez L.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2019 Feb;43(2):384-391.
Malpique R, Gallego-Escuredo JM, Sebastiani G, Villarroya J, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Villarroya F, Ibáñez L.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2019 Feb;43(2):384-391.
ICREA Academia Awards are given for a period of five years in recognition of an excellent scientific trajectory of university professors. Awardees receive funds over this period to support their lines of research,e ICRE teaching activities and allow awardee to focus on research activity.