title: Hypothalamic microinflammation: a common basis of metabolic syndrome and aging.
abstract: Chronic microinflammation is a hallmark of many aging-related neurodegenerative diseases as well as metabolic syndrome-driven diseases. Recent research indicates that chronic caloric excess can lead to hypothalamic microinflammation, which in turn participates in the development and progression of metabolic syndrome disorders such as obesity, glucose intolerance, and hypertension. Additionally, it was recently shown that increasing age after young adulthood can cause hypothalamic microinflammation independently of nutritional status, mediating a central mechanism of systemic aging. Taken together, these findings suggest that the hypothalamus has a fundamental role, via hypothalamic microinflammation, in translating overnutrition and aging into complex outcomes. Here we summarize recent work and suggest a conceptual model in which hypothalamic microinflammation is a common mediator of metabolic syndrome and aging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Diabetes Research Center, Institute of Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Yizhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Diabetes Research Center, Institute of Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Sudarshana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Purkayastha
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Diabetes Research Center, Institute of Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USA. Electronic address: dongsheng.cai@einstein.yu.edu.
authors.forename: Dongsheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000276:immunology*; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation