Microbes expressing cholesterol oxidoreductase (COR) proteins, methods of engineering the microbes expressing COR proteins, compositions and methods of using the microbes are provided.

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition and the like for lowering blood cholesterol, preventing or treating cardiovascular diseases and reducing inflammation, containing, as an active ingredient, an inhibitor of binding between CAP1 and PCSK9, an inhibitor of binding between CAP1 and resistin, or a CAP1 gene expression inhibitor. The present invention can lower the level of blood LDL-cholesterol by inhibiting the binding of CAP1 and PCSK9, the binding of CAP1 and resistin or the expression of a CAP1 gene. Therefore, the present invention can be effectively used as a pharmaceutical composition and the like for treating abnormal blood cholesterol levels and various cardiovascular diseases caused thereby, such as dyslipidemia, stroke, arteriosclerosis, and the like, and for inhibiting inflammation.

The present invention provides methods of treating prediabetes, hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes, AMIS syndrome, and obesity in a subject by administering to the patient HISS. The present invention also provides methods of diagnosing AMIS syndrome in a patient. Additionally, the present invention provides a method of shifting nutrient storage in meat-producing livestock to muscle rather than fat.

The present invention relates to a method for measuring the cholesterol uptake capacity of lipoproteins. The present invention also relates to a reagent kit for measuring the cholesterol uptake capacity of lipoproteins. The present invention further relates to a tagged cholesterol which can be used in the method and the reagent kit.

Provided herein are reagents, methods and biochemical markers for identifying individuals with glucoregulatory dysfunction and providing therapeutic intervention for individuals identified as at risk for glucoregulatory dysfunction. Specifically provided herein are methods for identifying a subject with glucoregulatory dysfunction based on changes in fasting blood lipid concentrations including, inter alia, diacylglycerols.

The present invention relates to a use of a human small leucine zipper protein in the adipocyte differentiation procedure. More specifically, sLZIP binds with PPARγ2 to induce the formation of a complex of HDAC3 and PPARγ2, thereby functioning as a corepressor to negatively inhibit the transcriptional activity of PPARγ2 and suppress the differentiation to adipocytes, and thus can be used as a marker for treating diabetes and obesity and developing new medicines therefor.

The presently disclosed subject matter relates to a method for predicting increased risk of obesity on a non-obese subject. More particularly, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to a method of predicting increased risk of obesity in a non-obese subject by determining a level of neurotensin expression in a biological sample from the subject and comparing the level of neurotensin expression in the sample with a control level. The presently disclosed subject matter further relates to a method of preventing and/or treating obesity in a subject in need thereof by administering to the subject an effective amount of an agent that inhibits neurotensin.

Described herein are inhibitors Transient Receptor Potential Canonical (TRPC) ion channels comprising TRPC4 protein and/or TRPC5 protein for use in combating obesity and other medical conditions including insulin resistance associated with Type II diabetes or development of Type II diabetes (pre-diabetes), metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Also disclosed is the use of the inhibitors for cosmetic purposes, such as cosmetic weight loss.

The invention provides methods for identifying biomarkers in a patient's microbiota to predict a patient's response to a predetermined diet to promote weight loss and methods of promoting weight loss or treating obesity in the patient by optimizing the patient's diet in accordance with the biomarkers identified in the patient's gut microbiota. The methods of the invention can also be used to manage or maintain weight, i.e., prevent or inhibit weight gain, in a patient who is of normal weight or is overweight or obese.

The methods described herein enable the evaluation of compounds on subjects to assess their therapeutic efficacy or toxic effects. The target of analysis is the underlying biochemical process or processes (i.e., metabolic process) thought to be involved in disease pathogenesis. Molecular flux rates within the one or more biochemical processes serve as biomarkers and are quantitated and compared with the molecular flux rates (i.e., biomarker) from control subjects (i.e., subjects not exposed to the compounds). Any change in the biomarker in the subject relative to the biomarker in the control subject provides the necessary information to evaluate therapeutic efficacy of an administered drug or a toxic effect and to develop the compound further if desired.