Educational guide 2017_18 Faculty of Chemistry

Nutrition and Metabolism (2012)

Contents

Topic	Sub-topic
1. Homeostasis and energetic balance	Concept of homeostasis. Description of a homeostatic model. Precision and energetic cost of maintenance. General equation of energy balance of an organism. Stable factors and modulation of the energetic balance equation. Thermogenesis. Energetic efficiency in substrate utilization.
2. Thermal homeostasis	Biochemical reactions and maintenance of body temperature, Q10 value of reactions. Importance of homeothermy. Concept of body temperature, variability and maintenance. Role of residual heat and compulsory and adaptive thermogenesis. Efficiency of maintenance systems of body temperature, influence on heat generation. Global energy losses, energy balance, balance between production and heat loss. Systems of temperature maintenance. Thermostat. Hypothermia. Fever, energy cost.
3. Metabolic rate	Metabolic rate, concept. Direct and indirect measurement. Physiological modulation. Basal metabolic rate, allometric relationships. Hypothesis that explain the relationship between metabolic rate and body mass. Surfaces’ law. Homeothermy and blood flow.
4. Thermogenesis	Thermogenesis. Concept, forms of thermogenesis. Compulsory and adaptative thermogenesis. Diet-induced thermogenesis and ‘pure’ thermogenesis. Mechanisms of thermogenesis. Hypothesis, futile cycles. Tremor and non-muscular thermogenesis. Thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue, UCP1, structure and function. Other uncoupling proteins, possible functions.
5. Food intake control	Control of energy intake. Control systems of intake of carbohydrates and lipids. Gastric and intestinal signals. Role of hormones and gut peptides. Hypothalamus. Role in control of body weight. Neuropeptides: POMC, NPU, etc. Peripheral signals.
6. Adipose tissue	Adipose tissue. Energy storage and endocrine organ. Adipocyte functions: endocrine, autocrine and paracrine. Cytokines. Nervous control. Hormonal interactions. Adipogenesis and control of lipolysis. Adipose tissue and inflammatory process.
7. Energetic and protein deficit: protein-calorie malnutrition and cachexia	Protein-calories malnutrition. Types. Pathogenic mechanisms and metabolic consequences. Treatment and recovery. Cachexia. Definition and types, origins. Aging. Cancer cachexia and consumptive diseases.
8. Carbohydrate-lipid interactions energy: metabolic syndrome	Natural history of metabolic syndrome: primitive diet, nutritional excess, protection from excess nutrients and insulin resistance. Role of lipids and amino acids. Metabolic syndrome, origins and definition. Components and related diseases. Pathogenic relationships between the components of metabolic syndrome. Dyslipidemia. Lipotoxicity. Atherosclerosis. Dietary lipids. The adipocyte, physiological role and regulation. Differentiation. Endocrine, paracrine and immune functions. Sick adipocytes and endothelial damage.
9. Nutrition and metabolic diseases	Concept of metabolic disease, types and varieties: diseases that could be improved with diet, adjuvants effects and contraindications. Systematic studies of metabolic diseases and adaptations of diets to treatments. Global role of diet as therapeutical element.
10. Nutrition and biota	Size, functions and diversity of biota. Relationship with diet. Symbiotic, commensal and parasitic effects. Probiotics. Stool formation, characteristics and composition. Defence: barriers against biota, immune system. Maintenance of the composition and changes in biota. Diseases caused by alterations of the biota. Myths and realities.

Competences	Learning aims	Contents
Planning	Methodologies	Personalized attention
Assessment	Sources of information	Recommendations