Stuff like this does though.
Researchers inoculated some people with lipopolysaccharide (a bacterial superantigen) and guess what happened... they created first stage metabolic syndrome.
A human model of inflammatory cardio-metabolic dysfunction; a double blind placebo-controlled crossover trial
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a consistent relationship between chronic low grade inflammation and states of obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and atherosclerosis. A challenge in understanding the mechanism of these associations in humans however remains hampered by a lack of a reliable in vivo model. Here we show that an evoked inflammatory model to simulate these states can be fruitful in identifying genes and pathways activated in cardio-metabolic disease. We acknowledge that the low dose endotoxemia model does not reproduce the chronic pathophysiology of complex cardio-metabolic diseases. It is, however, associated with minimal clinical response and approximates acutely the inflammatory and metabolic responses of the chronic disease states of interest. Furthermore, low-dose experimental endotoxin induction of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) signaling in vivo is one well established model of inflammation-induced metabolic disturbances in humans. Sepsis and chronic infections in humans induce insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and lipoprotein changes similar to the metabolic profile observed in obesity, type-2 diabetes and established coronary artery disease. The insulin resistance, adipose inflammation and lipoprotein changes observed acutely during experimental endotoxemia resemble those observed chronically in cardio-metabolic disease states.So pretty. More precious than diamonds.
Thanks for the link, C.
