This book discusses the relationship between cellular immunity and tryptophan metabolism, as well as its products, serotonin and melatonin, in the development of several diseases and reappraises the common signal transduction pathways of the neurodegenerative diseases, carcinogenesis, immune tolerance, inflammation, hypersensitivity reactions, neuropsychiatric disorders, in addition to bacterial tryptophan biosynthesis and novel antimicrobials. Tryptophan Metabolism: Implications for Biological Processes, Health and Disease presents fundamental information on tryptophan related metabolic pathways and metabolites, implications of these products for specific biological processes, diseases and conditions. This book focuses on effects of tryptophan metabolites on human health and will appeal to researchers, clinicians and students within this field.

This book contains an extensive collection of critical reviews, from leading researchers in the field of regulated protein degradation. It covers the role of regulated proteolysis in a range of microorganisms (from Gram positive, Gram negative and pathogenic bacteria to Archaea and the Baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae).

The metabolic syndrome is a common syndrome affecting about 20 % of the adult population in Europe, and probably the prevalence is of the same magnitude in other industrialised countries worldwide. It is mainly caused by western lifestyle resulting in abdominal obesity, but also a genetic predisposition plays a role. This syndrome, which is linked to leisure lifestyle and overeating/obesity, can develop into type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Therefore, proper treatment and prevention are heavily needed. This book discusses lifestyle intervention and treatment, specifically with pharmacological compounds, in order to formulate a strategy for treating the metabolic syndrome in the daily clinic.

JIMD Reports publishes case and short research reports in the area of inherited metabolic disorders. Case reports highlight some unusual or previously unrecorded feature relevant to the disorder, or serve as an important reminder of clinical or biochemical features of a Mendelian disorder.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been increasing worldwide, and it is becoming a public health concern. In this book, the pathophysiological risk factors of progression from normoglycemia to prediabetes and the lifestyle modifications and pharmacological interventions for preventing or delaying the development of glucose intolerance is examined. Furthermore, the insulin signaling pathway regulates the cellular uptake of glucose and wholebody metabolic homeostasis in mammalians. This book explores the improvement of estrogen signaling in preventing the comorbidities of insulin resistance. The next chapter focuses on nutritional management during the perioperative period, focusing on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. There are three major problems for nutritional management during the perioperative period. These problems are addressed and suggestions are made on how to alleviate them. Finally, Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common lethal inherited disorder in Caucasians, affecting 1 in 2,500 - 2,800 live births. The last chapter examines impaired glucose tolerance in cystic fibrosis.

The scientific advances in the physiology and pathophysiology of adipose tissue over the last two decades have been considerable. Today, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of adipogenesis are well known. In addition, adipose tissue is now recognized as a real endocrine organ that produces hormones such as the leptin acting to regulate food intake and energy balance in the central nervous system, a finding that has completely revolutionized the paradigm of energy homeostasis. Other adipokines have now been described and these molecules are taking on increasing importance in physiology and pathophysiology. Moreover, numerous works have shown that in obesity, but also in cases of lipodystophy, adipose tissue was the site of a local low-grade inflammation that involves immune cells such as macrophages and certain populations of lymphocytes. This new information is an important step in the pathophysiology of both obesity and related metabolic and cardiovascular complications. Finally, it is a unique and original work focusing on adipose tissue, covering biology and pathology by investigating aspects of molecular and cellular biology, general, metabolic, genetic and genomic biochemistry.

The dynamics of body metabolism are changed in the disease process and interact with physical activity. The alteration of metabolism and its consequences raise the need for simple and reliable methods for assessment of body composition. The chapters aim to investigate various interacting components converging on metabolic changes in lung and muscle tissues taking into consideration the drug effects. The effects of exercise and nutritional status are dealt with at a great extent.

JIMD Reports publishes case and short research reports in the area of inherited metabolic disorders. Case reports highlight some unusual or previously unrecorded feature relevant to the disorder, or serve as an important reminder of clinical or biochemical features of a Mendelian disorder.

Twenty years after its discovery, recombinant human leptin has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with lipodystrophy. Beginning with a synthesis of the vast body of work on its discovery, dissection of mechanisms, and effects in experimental models , the focus of this book shifts to a consideration of the regulation and role of leptin in humans. The emphasis on human-level data is a unique feature of this book. The results of numerous studies indicate that leptin is indeed a regulated human hormone. Leptin provides a detailed account of the myriad physiological, hormonal, metabolic, immunological, mitogenic and inflammatory modulators and targets of leptin in a single volume. Next follows a comprehensive presentation of the therapeutic trials of recombinant leptin in patients with congenital leptin deficiency, lipodystrophy, hypothalamic amenorrhea, and other emerging areas, including leptin supplementation in leptin-replete subjects, leptin substitution for insulin in diabetic models, and novel combination regimens of leptin and other biogenic peptides. Unanswered questions and future directions in leptin research are highlighted in the Foreword by Dr. Jeffrey Friedman and throughout the volume. Identifying such questions helps direct research that could deepen understanding of the complex regulation of leptin under physiological and pathological conditions, a critical prerequisite to its rational deployment in the treatment of human disorders.

The role of oxidative stress in human disease has become an area of intense interest. Free radicals, a normal product of metabolism, exist in all aerobic cells in balance with biochemical antioxidants. Environmental stress increases the levels of free radicals drastically, thereby disturbing the equilibrium between free radical production and the antioxidant capability causing oxidative stress. Over the years, ROS has been implicated in the pathologies of various diseases like cancer, neurological disorder, cardiovascular diseases rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes etc. This book provides an in depth critical state-of-art reviews from established investigators on free radicals, ROS associated pathogenesis of human diseases, biomarkers of oxidative damage, antioxidants, phytonutrients and other related health concerns of modern society. The present book is aimed at graduate students, researchers in academia, industry and clinicians with the interest in redox biology. Special attention has been devoted to the topic of ROS signalling, oxidative stress induced human pathologies & antioxidative therapies. The book consists of four parts in specified topics based on the current literatures for the better understanding of the readers with respect to their subject-wise interests. The first section of the book provides an overview about the ROS production and their measuring tools and techniques followed by the mechanisms involved in the oxidative stress in the second section. The third section describes the involvement of oxidative stress in different human diseases and the last section focuses on the different strategies to ameliorate oxidative stress induced stress.

Food research (and funding) is becoming more and more focused on health. While researchers and product developers have made great strides in food engineering, there needs to be increased focus on what happens when the food is actually digested. How is the food absorbed? Do the benefits remain? Digestion is a complex topic, and this will be the first book aimed at food researchers. Authored by a physiologist and a food engineer, the book will be a welcome addition to the literature.

This is the first comprehensive volume on Dipeptidyl Aminopeptidases that can be marketed to a wide variety of disciplines, as well as to a variety of clinicians. Leading experts in the field contribute to this state-of-the-art view on these enzymes. This book comes at a time when our understanding of their function is growing ever more rapidly and therapeutic options have become imminent.

JIMD Reports publishes case and short research reports in the area of inherited metabolic disorders. Case reports highlight some unusual or previously unrecorded feature relevant to the disorder, or serve as an important reminder of clinical or biochemical features of a Mendelian disorder.

Research over the years has demonstrated that free radicals mediated oxidative stress lies at the helm of almost all patho-physiological phenomena. These findings emphasize on the need to understand the underlying molecular mechanism(s) and their critical role in the pathogenesis. This book aims to focus on these areas to provide readers a comprehensive outlook about the major redox sensitive pathways and networks involved in various disease conditions. In the first chapter of the book, basic information about the oxidative stress, its generation, its biomarkers and its role in body are discussed. In the next three chapters, the role of oxidative stress in various pathologies ranging from neurological disorders, to cardiovascular diseases, cancers, metabolic diseases and ageing have been described. Chapter 5 cumulatively describes the most important molecular signaling pathways that are affected by reactive oxygen species (ROS). These are the mechanisms which are common denominators in various pathological states. In the next part of the book, various antioxidant strategies to target and mitigate ROS have been discussed with details on the mechanisms. Selenium, being the research focus and interest of the authors for years, the role of selenium as an antioxidant as part of selenoproteins has been included in the book. Finally, the book culminates with authors' perspective on the future of the redox biology field. Throughout the book, efforts have been made to use simplified language and suitable figures for ease to understand the contents. Although the authors have tried to touch on all the different aspects of oxidative stress in detail, the fact that it is a continuously growing field with updates coming every day, there might be some areas which might not be described in depth. This book is designed for students, young scientists to get acquainted with the redox biology. Overall, this book is a reference to understand the redox regulation of cellular signaling pathways involved in pathogenesis.