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Neonatal manipulations (10 min of maternal separation plus s.c. sham injection, daily for the first 21 d of life) determine overweight in male adult mice. In this work, we investigated the mechanisms underlying mild obesity and the alteration of caloric balance. Neonatally manipulated mice become overweight after onset of maturity, showing increased fat tissue and hypertrophic epididymal adipocytes. Increase in body weight occurs in the presence of a small increase in daily food intake (significant only in the adult period) and the absence of a decrease in spontaneous locomotor activity, while the calculated caloric efficiency is higher in manipulated mice, especially in adulthood. Fasting adult animals show hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperleptinemia. Soon after weaning and in the adulthood, plasma corticosterone and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) are also significantly increased. Thus, neonatal manipulations in nongenetically susceptible male mice program mild obesity, with metabolic and hormonal alterations that are similar to those found in experimental models of diabetes mellitus, suggesting that this metabolic derangement may have at least part of its roots early on in life and, more interestingly, that psychological and nociceptive stimuli induce these features.

Recent studies suggest that esophageal dysmotility occurring in systemic sclerosis might be caused by neurotransmitter levels decrease. The aim of the present study is to value VIP plasma levels, and to relate them with the pressure of the inferior esophageal sphincter (IES) and the capillaroscopy score in a group of patients affected by Systemic Sclerosis (SSc).Eleven subjects affected by SSc (eight male and three female, age from 30 to 72 years old) have been studied through esophageal manometry, capillaroscopy and VIP plasma levels evaluation. Fifteen healthy volunteers, as control group, have been enlisted.Our results show a decrease of VIP plasma levels in patients with SSc compared with control group. The difference between two groups has statistical significance (p0.01). Capillaroscopy has shown remarkable microcirculatory impairment and the esophageal manometry proved a decreased IES pressure. The scores of capillaroscopy, VIP plasma levels and pressures of IES have been compared and it has been observed that there is a relationship between VIP plasma level and pressure of IES.VIP plasma levels decrease enhances the role of the autonomic disorder in SSc and may contribute to produce the alteration of vascular tone as well as the gastroenteric musculature dysfunction.

The steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) plays an essential role in steroidogenesis, facilitating cholesterol entry into the inner compartment of mitochondria. Mutations (either transitions or transversions) of StAR gene have been described as a cause of lethal forms of congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia. Adrenal incidentalomas are frequently discovered during radiologic examinations performed in patients with diagnosis for other diagnostic problems. Enzymatic defects along the steroidogenetic cascade are observed with high frequency in these patients. Aim of the present study was to asses the involvement of alteration of the StAR gene in incidentally discovered adrenal masses (incidentalomas). The mutational analysis of 32 incidentalomas demonstrated a "missense" mutation in exon five of the gene in one of the tumors analysed. This is the first evidence of an alteration of the StAR gene in adrenal incidentalomas.

Neonatal Stress Induces Insulin Resistance, Obesity and Diabetes in Adult Male Mice Many studies in men and in ani Many studies in men and in animals have shown that poor growth in fetal and postnatal life is associated to an increased risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome in adult life. Maturation of pancreatic islets occurs in late pregnancy and in neonatal period and may be influenced by metabolic, endocrine and nervous stimuli. We investigated in mice the effect of psychological and nociceptive stimuli during neonatal period on endocrine and metabolic status in adult life. Litters (males) were randomly assigned to control and to manipulated group (sterile saline s.c. injection 1 ml/Kg during mother deprivation for 10 min. along 21 days ). Body weight, daily food and water intake, locomotor activity were measured at regular intervals. The caloric efficiency was calculated as grams of body weight gained divided grams of food ingested. At 120 days trunk body samples were collected and glucose, lipids, insulin and leptin were measured. [br]Body weight in manipulated mice was significantly higher at 60 days and thereafter: g. 52.5 1.3 vs g. 61.8 0.9 final weight, the same was for the epidydimal fat pads: g. 2.5 0.2 vs g. 1.2 0.3. The caloric efficiency was significantly higher in manipulated mice: 0.025 0.003 vs 0.012 0.001. No difference in food and water intake and spontaneous motor activity. Our data show that mild nociceptive stimuli early in life may induce, in non genetically prone mice, a condition of insulin resistance with obesity and diabetes.