Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity, and Drosophila

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic disturbances increasing a risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes 2 types. The main features of MetS include atherogenic dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance and elevated glucose levels, a pro-thrombotic state, pro-oxidant and pro-inflammatory states. Excessive consumption of high caloric food and sedentary lifestyle followed by overweight and obesity, as well as aging and stresses are major contributing factors to the MetS development. MeS affects between 10 and 84% of adults depending on the used MetS criteria and increases significantly a risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes 2 type and kidney diseases. Patients with metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular, and liver disease may have a higher risk of infection of COVID-19 with significantly worse prognosis and outcomes in these patients. In recent years, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has been actively used to study human metabolic disorders as a cost-effective and expedient model. Drosophila belongs to insects with full metamorphosis and its life cycle includes four developmental stages: embryo, larva, pupa, and adult flies. Each developmental stage has its own specific advantages and can be used to study metabolic homeostasis. Studies of metabolic disturbances in Drosophila and mammalian models along with humans have demonstrated that flies and small mammalian models have many similarities with humans in basic metabolic functions and share many molecular mechanisms which regulate these metabolic processes. In this paper, we describe the advantages and limitations of Drosophila models of metabolic syndrome and obesity in light of physiological and biochemical similarities and differences between insects and mammals.

Metabolic Syndrome: Lessons from Rodent and Drosophila Models

“…A defined cluster of clinical criteria has been established to diagnose human patients and rodent models with MetS. In the case of D. melanogaster , not all MetS criteria, especially central obesity and blood pressure, can be applied [ 120 ]. For humans, there are already established exact values of clinical parameters for distinguishing healthy persons from sick ones.…”

Pathogenesis and Biomarkers of Metabolic Syndrome

“…Metabolic syndrome (MetS) includes a group of metabolic disturbances that occur more frequently together than separately and, in the combination, significantly increase a risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clinically MetS is characterized by dyslipidemia, elevated glucose levels, increased blood pressure, insulin resistance, a pro-thrombotic state, pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidant states [1,2]. Metabolic abnormalities related to MetS have been studied for over 100 years, but in the resent 30 years MetS received a special attention.…”

“…The clinical criteria that are the most commonly accepted for diagnostic of MetS include abdominal or central obesity, elevated levels of serum triacylglycerides (TAG) and glucose, increased blood pressure, and low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). When patients have three or more of these signs, they are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome [1,2,8].…”