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The starting point for innate immunity activation is the recognition of conserved structures of bacteria, viruses, and fungal components through pattern-recognition receptors

TLRs are PRRs that recognize microbe-associated molecular patterns

TLRs are transmembrane proteins containing extracellular domains rich in leucine repeat sequences and a cytosolic domain homologous to the IL1 receptor intracellular domain

The major proinflammatory mediators produced by the TLR4 activation in response to endotoxin (LPS) are TNFα, IL1β and IL6, which are also elevated in obese and insulin-resistant patients

Obesity, high-fat diet, diabetes, and NAFLD are associated with higher gut permeability leading to metabolic endotoxemia.

Probiotics, prebiotics, and antibiotic treatment can reduce LPS absorption

LPS promotes hepatic insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, hepatic triglyceride accumulation, and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines promoting the progression of fatty liver disease.

In the endothelium, LPS induces the expression of pro-inflammatory, chemotactic, and adhesion molecules, which promotes atherosclerosis development and progression.

In the adipose tissue, LPS induces adipogenesis, insulin resistance, macrophage infiltration, oxidative stress, and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.

the gut microbiota has been recently proposed to be an environmental factor involved in the control of body weight and energy homeostasis by modulating plasma LPS levels

dietary fats alone might not be sufficient to cause overweight and obesity, suggesting that a bacterially related factor might be responsible for high-fat diet-induced obesity.

This was accompanied in high-fat-fed mice by a change in gut microbiota composition, with reduction in Bifidobacterium and Eubacterium spp.

n humans, it was also shown that meals with high-fat and high-carbohydrate content (fast-food style western diet) were able to decrease bifidobacteria levels and increase intestinal permeability and LPS concentrations

it was demonstrated that, more than the fat amount, its composition was a critical modulator of ME (Laugerette et al. 2012). Very recently, Mani et al. (2013) demonstrated that LPS concentration was increased by a meal rich in saturated fatty acids (SFA), while decreased after a meal rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA).

this effect seems to be due to the fact that some SFA (e.g., lauric and mystiric acids) are part of the lipid-A component of LPS and also to n-3 PUFA's role on reducing LPS potency when substituting SFA in lipid-A

these experimental results suggest a pivotal role of CD14-mediated TLR4 activation in the development of LPS-mediated nutritional changes.

This suggests a link between gut microbiota, western diet, and obesity and indicates that gut microbiota manipulation can beneficially affect the host's weight and adiposity.

endotoxemia was independently associated with energy intake but not fat intake in a multivariate analysis

in vitro that endotoxemia activates pro-inflammatory cytokine/chemokine production via NFκB and MAPK signaling in preadipocytes and decreased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ activity and insulin responsiveness in adipocytes.

T2DM patients have mean values of LPS that are 76% higher than healthy controls

LPS-induced release of glucagon, GH and cortisol, which inhibit glucose uptake, both peripheral and hepatic

LPSs also seem to induce ROS-mediated apoptosis in pancreatic cells

Recent evidence has been linking ME with dyslipidemia, increased intrahepatic triglycerides, development, and progression of alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

The hepatocytes, rather than hepatic macrophages, are the cells responsible for its clearance, being ultimately excreted in bile

All the subclasses of plasma lipoproteins can bind and neutralize the toxic effects of LPS, both in vitro (Eichbaum et al. 1991) and in vivo (Harris et al. 1990), and this phenomenon seems to be dependent on the number of phospholipids in the lipoprotein surface (Levels et al. 2001). LDL seems to be involved in LPS clearance, but this antiatherogenic effect is outweighed by its proatherogenic features

LPS produces hypertriglyceridemia by several mechanisms, depending on LPS concentration. In animal models, low-dose LPS increases hepatic lipoprotein (such as VLDL) synthesis, whereas high-dose LPS decreases lipoprotein catabolism

When a dose of LPS similar to that observed in ME was infused in humans, a 2.5-fold increase in endothelial lipase was observed, with consequent reduction in total and HDL. This mechanism may explain low HDL levels in ‘ME’ and other inflammatory conditions such as obesity and metabolic syndrome

It is known that the high-fat diet and the ‘ME’ increase intrahepatic triglyceride accumulation, thus synergistically contributing to the development and progression of alcoholic and NAFLD, from the initial stages characterized by intrahepatic triglyceride accumulation up to chronic inflammation (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis), fibrosis, and cirrhosis

On the other hand, LPS activates Kupffer cells leading to an increased production of ROS and pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNFα

high-fat diet mice presented with ME, which positively and significantly correlated with plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), IL1, TNFα, STAMP2, NADPHox, MCP-1, and F4/80 (a specific marker of mature macrophages) mRNAs

prebiotic administration reduces intestinal permeability to LPS in obese mice and is associated with decreased systemic inflammation when compared with controls

Cani et al. also found that high-fat diet mice presented with not only ME but also higher levels of inflammatory markers, oxidative stress, and macrophage infiltration markers

This suggests that important links between gut microbiota, ME, inflammation, and oxidative stress are implicated in a high-fat diet situation

high-fat feeding is associated with adipose tissue macrophage infiltration (F4/80-positive cells) and increased levels of chemokine MCP-1, suggesting a strong link between ME, proinflammatory status, oxidative stress, and, lately, increased CV risk

LPS has been shown to promote atherosclerosis

markers of systemic inflammation such as circulating bacterial endotoxin were elevated in patients with chronic infections and were strong predictors of increased atherosclerotic risk

As a TLR4 ligand, LPS has been suggested to induce atherosclerosis development and progression, via a TLR4-mediated inflammatory state.

In the setting of MetS, hypertriglyceridemia and increased WC have been reported as the most important determinants of hypogonadism

recent literature consistently associates obesity not only with higher risk of hypogonadism [4, 6, 27] but also with lower T levels

Visceral adiposity has been particularly related with reduction of T and SHBG levels (independent of other metabolic disorders)

WC was one of the MetS parameters with the greatest influence in T levels decrease, presenting itself as a strong risk factor for hypogonadism development

MetS-related T decline was not accompanied by an increase in pituitary LH levels, suggesting impairment in gonadotropin secretion

The molecules behind this smoothing compensatory effect of GnRH/LH are still unknown, but estrogens and insulin, as well as leptin, TNF-α, and other adipokines, were proposed candidates

fat stores undertake an increase aromatization of androgens, therefore raising estrogen levels [9, 15], which in turn decrease LH secretion

our data contradicts the concept that estradiol exerts a negative feedback on hypothalamic GnRH secretion

taking into account that high estradiol levels have already been described as the only abnormality in a subset of patients with ED, the hypothesis that the later might not only be caused by androgen deficiency is becoming increasingly evident

it has been reported that the chronic exposure to phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5i), widely used for the treatment of ED, may influence serum estradiol levels

thyroid disorders (specially hyperthyroidism) have been related to ED and hypogonadism, and so must be considered in a sexual-dysfunction setting

It is clear from the current literature that collecting a more thorough hormonal panel might be a wise approach to further uncover hormonal relations

We concluded that in ED patients with hypogonadism and MetS, the attenuated response of HPG axis (normal or low LH levels) might not always be due to an underlying adiposity-dependent estrogen-raising effect.

our findings indicate that ED, aging, and estradiol might have a stronger connection than what is currently described in the literature.

this study underlines the importance of the collection of a full hormonal panel in ED men

there are many studies showing that consumption of fructose in comparison to other monosaccharides results in increased de novo lipogenesis, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, BW6, 7 and, most recently, impaired cognitive function

in the present study, the intake of fructose by mice was more similar to that of typical human consumption in comparison to previous studies

prolonged consumption of diets containing fructose (11 weeks) increased BW and body fat deposition

studies in humans confirm that fructose, but not glucose (when provided as 25% of energy requirements), in the context of an energy-balanced diet increases de novo lipogenesis and visceral adiposity along with dyslipidemia, decreases insulin sensitivity10, 12 and decreases in fat oxidation

we hypothesize that fructose may reduce voluntary energy expenditure in terms of physical activity.

significant reduction (~20%) in physical activity in the fructose-fed animals in comparison to glucose

a recent study reported that ingestion of fructose (25% energy intake, 10 weeks) in human volunteers also resulted in reduced energy expenditure in relation to a diet with the same glucose dose

There is certainly evidence to suggest that, for example, exercise is able to prevent dyslipidemia in healthy subjects fed a weight-maintenance high-fructose diet (30%)54, which strongly suggests a protective role of physical activity in metabolic regulation.

the potential negative effects of fructose in brain and cognitive function have been investigated, with a series of studies showing cognitive deficits in spatial memory and learning in adolescent and adult animals following access to a high fructose diet

access to both fructose and sucrose, but not glucose, results in a 40% reduction in hippocampal neurogenesis

Collectively these studies seem to suggest that fructose consumption can have a considerable impact on hippocampal function and learning, which is in direct contrast with what we observed.

the impact of fructose is apparent only in BW, liver mass and body fat, but not in cognitive measures or rates of neurogenesis

Starvation, like obesity, is accompanied by a decreased BBB transport rate of exogenous leptin

hypertriglyceridemia could explain impaired transport of leptin across the BBB in both starvation and obesity

In the liver, fructose bypasses the two highly regulated steps of glycolysis, catalyzed by glucokinase/hexokinase and phosphofructokinase both of which are inhibited by increasing concentrations of their byproducts. Instead, fructose enters the pathway at a level that is not regulated and is metabolized to fructose-1-phosphate primarily by fructokinase or ketohexokinase

Fructokinase has no negative feedback system, and ATP is used for the phosphorylation process. As a result, continued fructose metabolism results in intracellular phosphate depletion, activation of AMP deaminase, and uric acid generation which is harmful at the cellular level

Uric acid, a byproduct of fructose degradation,

Uric acid inhibits endothelial NO both in vivo and in vitro, [15] and directly induces adipocyte dysfunction

Serum uric acid increases rapidly after ingestion of fructose, resulting in increases as high as 2 mg/dL within 1 hour

Uncontrolled fructose metabolism leads to postprandial hypertriglyceridemia, which increases visceral adipose deposition. Visceral adiposity contributes to hepatic triglyceride accumulation, protein kinase C activation, and hepatic insulin resistance by increasing the portal delivery of free fatty acids to the liver

Several reviews have concluded that intake of both fructose and HFCS by children and adults was associated with an increased risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome

Sucrose is a disaccharide that is comprised of fructose and glucose

Figure 2