The Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
is an interdisciplinary institution at the University of Lübeck. It promotes research in the area of mutual interactions among the brain, behavior and metabolism as well as its applications in experimental and clinical medicine.
Interdisciplinary and translational Cooperation
In particular, the CBBM promotes cooperation among the participating institutions, the development of research-related infrastructure and joint efforts in grant proposals.
Facilities
State-of-the-art laboratory units will be made available to all the research groups such as metabolic laboratory, neuroendocrinological and neurophysiological laboratories as well as a Metabolic Core Unit in which body composition and energy expenditure of human subjects can be determined.
Ursache für neurologische Komplikationen bei Diabetes
Forschungsteam aus dem Institut für experimentelle und klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie der Universität zu Lübeck veröffentlicht Studie zu Dimethylglyoxal in Nature Communications
Die Ursachen von neurologischen Komplikationen bei Diabetes sind bis heute nicht vollständig verstanden. Eine neue Studie unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Markus Schwaninger, Dr. Julica Inderhees und Riccardo Costalunga vom Institut für experimentelle und klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie der Universität zu Lübeck und der CBBM Bioanalytic Core Facility zeigt, dass das Stoffwechselprodukt Dimethylglyoxal (DMG) hierbei eine entscheidende Rolle spielt. Erhöhte DMG-Konzentrationen führen zu oxidativem Stress und kognitiven Beeinträchtigungen. Die Forschungsergebnisse könnten zu neuen Präventions- und Behandlungsansätzen bei Diabetes führen. Die Studie wurde in dem renommierten Fachjournal Nature Communications veröffentlicht.
Originalveröffentlichung: Rhein, S., Costalunga, R., Inderhees, J. et al. The reactive pyruvate metabolite dimethylglyoxal mediates neurological consequences of diabetes. Nat Commun 15, 5745 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50089-3
Pressemitteilung: Ursache für neurologische Komplikationen bei Diabetes: Universität zu Lübeck (uni-luebeck.de)
CBBM Researchers Uncover Time-Dependent Effects of Thyroid Hormones on Liver Metabolism
Hypothyroidism, characterized by reduced thyroid hormone (TH) production, leads to multiple metabolic issues, including hypothermia, fatigue, weight gain, dry skin, and hair loss. Among various impacted organs, the liver is notably affected, with low TH levels increasing the susceptibility for fatty liver disease.
Considering that liver metabolism shows strong variations over the course of the day, surprisingly little is known about the temporal effects of low or high thyroid state. To address this gap, researchers from the Institute of Neurobiology and the Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Center of Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism (CBBM) studied the liver symptoms of hypothyroidism in mice. They found that mice with low TH levels showed a marked decrease in metabolic activity and body temperature. In contrast, the effects of hypothyroidism on liver physiology were subtle and much less pronounced when compared to high-TH effects. Prof Oster, senior author of the study, stresses that these findings indicate that the liver is a low TH action organ, thus being less responsive to a further decrease in TH levels.
The authors developed bioinformatic tools to discover that thyroid state influences liver biology in a time-of-day-dependent manner. In this way, they identified several novel TH-affected biological processes important for liver metabolism. Again, the liver’s response across the day was smaller in hypo- compared to hyperthyroid mice, which aligns with previous findings.
Dr. de Assis, the study's primary author, emphasizes the significance of considering time in metabolic studies. “Our temporal analysis is far superior to standard approaches neglecting time of day, and it is easily applicable to other tissues”, he states. The findings reinforce the necessity for further investigation to understand the intricate relationship between thyroid hormones, liver function, and time.
The study was published in January 2024 in Scientific Reports (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50374-z) as part of the Collaborative Research Center "LocoTact”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).