Andrea Ticinesi, Stefania Maggi, Antonio Nouvenne, Giovanni Zuliani, Claudio Franceschi
{"title":"The gut microbiome and ageing trajectories: mechanisms and clinical implications","authors":"Andrea Ticinesi, Stefania Maggi, Antonio Nouvenne, Giovanni Zuliani, Claudio Franceschi","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01236-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01236-x","url":null,"abstract":"This Review discusses the current state of knowledge on the contribution of the gut microbiome as a potential key actor in defining how we age. The gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem that establishes lifelong dynamic interactions with the host at multiple levels (several gut–organ axes), differently influencing ageing patterns and age-related disease onset and progression across populations. Accordingly, the definition of a ‘normative’ gut microbiome remains elusive, depending largely on the interaction with the external environment. In this complex scenario, the causal role of the gut microbiome in defining the ageing trajectory and its precise contribution to various organ-specific age-related diseases is still uncertain in clinical terms and could be context specific. Multiparametric and uniqueness indexes within a given population have shown a certain capacity for predicting disability and mortality. However, the gut microbiome is shaped over time by exposure to different intrinsic and environmental factors, resulting in a high degree of inter-individual variability, a key phenomenon that should be considered to develop novel personalized strategies to counteract age-related disease and frailty. The gut microbiome varies highly between individuals and has a substantial contribution to long-term health. This Review examines the effect of the gut microbiome on ageing and frailty risk, including potential therapies to modify gut microbiome composition to promote healthy ageing.","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 6","pages":"323-337"},"PeriodicalIF":40.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147346368","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":"The long-overlooked effect of hypothyroidism on the global burden of non-communicable diseases","authors":"Leonidas H. Duntas, Peter A. Kopp","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01235-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01235-y","url":null,"abstract":"This Comment highlights the multiple effects of hypothyroidism and its strong connection to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), serving as a call to action for a global alliance to recognize hypothyroidism as a modifiable risk factor for NCDs. Additionally, it emphasizes the urgent need to raise awareness and improve thyroid management to address the growing burden of NCDs.","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 4","pages":"194-195"},"PeriodicalIF":40.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146205062","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":"Making a droplet: the adipogenin–seipin complex at work","authors":"Daniel Tews, Pamela Fischer-Posovszky","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01234-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01234-z","url":null,"abstract":"Adipogenin is a microprotein expressed in adipose tissue. Previous studies have suggested its role in lipid storage, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms have been unclear. A recent study published in Science presents evidence that adipogenin forms complexes with seipin, a protein that is essential for lipid droplet formation in adipocytes, thereby modulating lipid storage.","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 4","pages":"199-200"},"PeriodicalIF":40.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146157788","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}
Andreas Schäffler, Andreas Schmid, Thomas Karrasch
{"title":"Blood–brain barrier permeability of adipokines and myokines","authors":"Andreas Schäffler, Andreas Schmid, Thomas Karrasch","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01232-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01232-1","url":null,"abstract":"The use of adipokines and myokines measured in serum or cerebrospinal fluid as biomarkers or disease modifiers in neurological disorders is limited. Their permeability to the blood–brain barrier is either unknown or overlooked. A novel classification of adipokines and myokines on the basis of their cerebrospinal fluid to serum ratio is warranted.","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 5","pages":"257-258"},"PeriodicalIF":40.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146113639","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":"GPR110 as a regulator of MASH","authors":"Claire Greenhill","doi":"10.1038/s41574-026-01231-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-026-01231-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 3","pages":"135-135"},"PeriodicalIF":40.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145986568","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":"Blood-based obesity biomarkers and their relevance for disease risk","authors":"Tobias Pischon, Katharina Nimptsch","doi":"10.1038/s41574-025-01229-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-025-01229-2","url":null,"abstract":"Obesity is a risk factor for chronic diseases and early death; however, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Whereas insulin resistance and inflammation are established pathways in several of these relationships, it is less clear how increases in body adipose tissue relate to these pathways and disease risk. Several adipose tissue-derived blood-based biomarkers have been identified as purported mediators, including adipokines, inflammatory cytokines and sex steroid hormones. Traditionally, these markers were discovered in animal models and their relevance in humans has then been investigated in epidemiological studies. Today, proteomics and metabolomics approaches in human observational studies are used to discover obesity biomarkers in blood, supported by Mendelian randomization studies to draw causal inferences. Here we review adipose tissue-derived blood-based obesity biomarkers and their relevance for disease risk, along with their potential role as mediators. Proteomics and metabolomics studies have partly re-identified traditional biomarkers, but more large-scale prospective analyses are needed to obtain evidence of the relevance of omics-based and traditional obesity biomarkers to disease. Obesity is associated with changes in levels of many blood-based factors, such as cytokines and adipokines. This Review explores the utility of such factors as biomarkers for quantifying and predicting obesity-associated disease risk, including the identification of causal relationships.","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 6","pages":"338-355"},"PeriodicalIF":40.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145971827","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":"Endocrine regulation of the hepatic fasting response: cues, cooperation and consequences","authors":"Dana Goldberg, Ido Goldstein","doi":"10.1038/s41574-025-01228-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41574-025-01228-3","url":null,"abstract":"Upon fasting, mammals undergo a fasting response in which the liver’s main role is producing fuel (glucose and ketone bodies) to supply extra-hepatic tissues. Glucose is produced by glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, and ketone bodies are produced by ketogenesis, which is preceded by lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation. Hepatic fuel production during fasting is controlled by hormonal and metabolic cues, collectively termed here ‘fasting cues’. In this Review, we discuss fasting cues that directly signal hepatocytes and whose plasma levels increase upon fasting, namely, glucagon, glucocorticoids, growth hormone, adrenaline, free fatty acids, asprosin and GP73. We outline the fasting-dependent increases in blood levels of these cues, how they regulate transcription and the metabolic consequences of these cues in hepatocytes. We put particular emphasis on their role in directing fuel production. The perception of endocrine control of fuel production is shifting from the classic ‘counter-regulatory’ notion that fasting cues are simply opposing insulin action, to the realization that fasting cues cooperate with each other to elicit a synergistic response and also complement each other’s actions indirectly. We discuss these modes of crosstalk and cooperation between fasting cues and describe the effects of signal integration on the transcriptional and metabolic response to fasting. During fasting, the liver produces fuel under the control of several hormonal and metabolic cues. In this Review, the authors outline the effects of the cues (glucagon, glucocorticoids, growth hormone, adrenaline, free fatty acids, asprosin and GP73) that are known to directly signal to hepatocytes under fasting conditions.","PeriodicalId":18916,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Endocrinology","volume":"22 5","pages":"302-316"},"PeriodicalIF":40.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145937875","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}