The two-way obesity model that considers only the interplay between humans and their environment has been revised to include the gastrointestinal microbiota. Notable perturbations in the bacterial communities in obese individuals have been uncovered. Research is helping to distinguish between the obesogenic mechanisms attributable to diet and those that may be associated with the microbiota. Examples include studies in which transplant of the microbiota from murine models of weight loss (gastric bypass) into germ-free mice resulted in significant weight loss. Several mechanisms have been identified that suggest the microbiota may play a role in obesity development and propagation. There is some evidence from animal and human studies that the microbiota in the obese harvests energy more effectively and may manipulate host gene function leading to increased adiposity, aggravation of inflammatory mechanisms, metabolic endotoxemia, and metabolic dysfunction. Research findings highlight the potential of the microbiota to influence body weight and they allude to its potential therapeutic use in tackling the costly global epidemic of obesity.

Experiments were designed to investigate whether orally consumed tomato lectm could resist the digestive process and function as a lectm wrthm the alimentary canal Rats fed on a tomato lectm-rich diet passed faeces contammg serologtcally detectable tomato lectm, and the lectm could be shown by tmmunoperoxtdase stammg bound to mtestmal vrlh Moreover, radtoactrvtty was mainly recovered from the alimentary canal 3h after 1251-labelled tomato lectm admmrstratron with only traces m the crrculatron or internal organs Radroacttvtty absorbed mto the human crrculatton after consumptton of '251-labelled tomato lectm was also less than that expected for a dtgestable protein Tomato lectrn Dietary lectm Villus structure Rat mtestme Human intestine

Subchronic (6 days) but not acute injections of nicotine (0.4 mg/kg SC) increased spontaneous activity (P less than 0.01) in an elevated X-maze composed of two open and two enclosed runways. Neither acute nor subchronic nicotine altered significantly the ratio of open:enclosed runway entries (O/E ratio). Diazepam (5 mg/kg PO) had no significant effects on spontaneous activity but increased the O/E ratio (P less than 0.05). Acute nicotine increased (P less than 0.01) whereas subchronic nicotine caused a small decrease (P less than 0.05) in the plasma corticosterone concentration. Both acute and subchronic diazepam decreased the levels of the hormone (P less than 0.01 and P less than 0.05, respectively) although the reduction elicited by chronic diazepam was less than that caused by acute diazepam (P less than 0.05). In the experiments with diazepam the plasma corticosterone concentration correlated negatively with the O/E ratio (r = -0.58; P less than 0.05), whereas in the experiments with nicotine plasma corticosterone correlated negatively (r = -0.46; P less than 0.05) with enclosed runway entries. Nicotine injections were associated with a regionally-selective reduction in the 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) concentration in the hippocampus (P less than 0.05) and a reduction in hippocampal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) which approached statistical significance. Chronic, but not acute, diazepam increased (P less than 0.01) hypothalamic 5-HT. The changes in 5-HT and 5-HIAA did not appear to be directly related to the behavioural or adrenocortical responses to either of the drugs.

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ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation among Métis men and women (20–59 years) and identify its associated risk and protective factors using data from the nationally representative Aboriginal Peoples Survey (2006).Study designSecondary analysis of previously collected data from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey.ResultsAcross Canada, lifetime suicidal ideation was reported by an estimated 13.3% (or an estimated 34,517 individuals) of the total population of 20-to-59-year-old Métis. Of those who ideated, 46.2% reported a lifetime suicide attempt and 6.0% indicated that they had attempted suicide in the previous 12 months. Prevalence of suicidal ideation was higher among Métis men than in men who did not report Aboriginal identity in examined jurisdictions. Métis women were more likely to report suicidal ideation compared with Métis men (14.9% vs. 11.5%, respectively). Métis women and men had some common associated risk and protective factors such as major depressive episode, history of self-injury, perceived Aboriginal-specific community issues, divorced status, high mobility, self-rated thriving health, high self-esteem and positive coping ability. However, in Métis women alone, heavy frequent drinking, history of foster care experience and lower levels of social support were significant associated risk factors of suicidal ideation. Furthermore, a significant interaction was observed between social support and major depressive episode. Among Métis men, history of ever smoking was the sole unique associated risk factor.ConclusionThe higher prevalence of suicidal ideation among Métis women compared with Métis men and the observed gender differences in associations with some associated risk and protective factors suggest the need for gender-responsive programming to address suicidal ideation.