{"title":"The causes of cachexia: key signals and the brain.","authors":"Aideen Daly, Su Lei Yin, Anthony P Coll","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01302-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-026-01302-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cachexia is a multisystem, complex disorder of body weight and body composition characterized by a relentless, non-resolving wasting of metabolic reserve that, although long recognized and described, continues to elude effective treatment. A continued focus on central nervous system pathways as key drivers of some of the cardinal features of cachexia now points towards the development of long-needed effective interventions. In this Review, we focus on several key signals, namely growth differentiation factor 15, melanocortins and interleukin-6, that illustrate the power of cross-disciplinary thinking to better understand how humoral signals affect body composition, behaviour and cognition in cachexia.</p>","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":39.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149017543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nutrition transitions, obesity and T2DM in the Middle East and North Africa.","authors":"Hala B AlEssa, Vasanti S Malik, Frank B Hu","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01301-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-026-01301-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are global epidemics, but their burden is particularly pronounced in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This Review provides a comprehensive overview of their epidemiological landscape among adults in the MENA region, encompassing disease burden, temporal trends, intersecting risk factors and key gaps in research, policy and practice, while highlighting regional heterogeneity. Despite worsening trends, the broader landscape, including disease burden and its drivers, remains insufficiently addressed. Contributing risk factors include poor diet quality, physical inactivity, genetic predisposition, obesogenic food environments and socioeconomic and cultural influences. While high-income places in the Gulf region have undergone earlier and more advanced nutrition transitions, with some of the highest prevalences of obesity and T2DM globally, places in North Africa are experiencing rapid shifts, with some of the steepest increases in high BMI and elevated fasting plasma levels of glucose. Although places share common drivers such as urbanization and sedentary lifestyles, the magnitude and distribution of risk vary widely owing to differences in economic development, healthcare infrastructure, cultural norms and public health nutrition policies. These epidemics impose a substantial and under-recognized economic burden. Prevention and management efforts remain fragmented, highlighting the need for stronger regional collaboration, improved evidence generation and culturally tailored interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":39.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149002312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"UCP1 gets a transport mechanism and a challenge","authors":"Jose Carlos de Lima-Junior","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01304-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01304-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 11","pages":"632-632"},"PeriodicalIF":39.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148923273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"High-fat diet promotes tumour formation in the epithelium","authors":"Linus L. H. Chang","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01306-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01306-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 11","pages":"633-633"},"PeriodicalIF":39.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148923274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jasmine Maghera, Chieh Min Jamie Chu, Christopher Schaaf, Jennifer E Bruin, James D Johnson, Francis C Lynn, Patrick E MacDonald
{"title":"The comparative cell physiology of stem cell-derived and primary human β cells.","authors":"Jasmine Maghera, Chieh Min Jamie Chu, Christopher Schaaf, Jennifer E Bruin, James D Johnson, Francis C Lynn, Patrick E MacDonald","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01295-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-026-01295-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ability to generate stem cell-derived pancreatic β (SCβ) cells and stem cell-derived islets has opened new opportunities for type 1 diabetes mellitus therapies and disease modelling. Carefully assessing how closely SCβ cells resemble their primary counterparts is crucial to the support of ongoing clinical trials and human-centric studies on diabetes pathophysiology. Observed differences between SCβ cells and primary human β cells are generally attributed to the incomplete maturation of SCβ cells in vitro. However, even cells further matured in vivo can differ considerably from mature primary islet cells. In this Review, we examine key features of human β cells and islets, and summarize our current knowledge of these features in stem cell-derived products. We highlight knowledge gaps and discuss the requirements for comparative studies, emphasizing the importance of tissue quality, harmonizing approaches, integrating datasets and data sharing.</p>","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":39.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148892036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elisabeth F. C. van Rossum, Mariëtte R. Boon, Renate E. H. Meeusen, Caroline B. Terwee, Aart-Jan Boor, Erica L. T. van den Akker
{"title":"CheckCausesObesity.com: a screening and monitoring tool for obesity","authors":"Elisabeth F. C. van Rossum, Mariëtte R. Boon, Renate E. H. Meeusen, Caroline B. Terwee, Aart-Jan Boor, Erica L. T. van den Akker","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01300-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01300-6","url":null,"abstract":"CheckCausesObesity.com (CCO) is a science-based screening and monitoring tool, developed by multidisciplinary experts and consistent with international guidelines. CCO systematically screens for potential obesity causes and contributing factors across seven categories, including lifestyle and medical factors, alongside selected comorbidities as well as anthropometric, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. CCO supports individualized assessment, treatment and population-level monitoring.","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 11","pages":"627-629"},"PeriodicalIF":39.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148874958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"At the Bone Research Society Annual Meeting 2026","authors":"Senegal Carty","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01299-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01299-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 11","pages":"631-631"},"PeriodicalIF":39.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148830587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}