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The abandonment of pig husbandry by several communities in Papua New Guinea has been explained in terms of hygiene, Christianity, and economics or combinations of all three. At Haivaro-a small village in the lowlands of northwestern Gulf Province-these three factors were reinforced by an emerging desire to act, and be seen, as "modern." A progressive decrease in social occasions that entailed the exchange of pigs or the sharing of pork, combined with increased availability of new modern items, led Haivaro people to revalue their world in monetary terms. In this process, they developed a sense that some of their past practices were antithetical to their desire to be modern. In this context, and for this reason, they chose to abandon pig husbandry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathologies of the micro- and macrovascular systems are a hallmark of the metabolic syndrome, which can lead to chronically elevated blood pressure. However, the underlying pathomechanisms involved still need to be clarified. Here, we report that an obesity-associated increase in serum leptin triggers the select expansion of the micro-angioarchitecture in pre-autonomic brain centers that regulate hemodynamic homeostasis. By using a series of cell- and region-specific loss- and gain-of-function models, we show that this pathophysiological process depends on hypothalamic astroglial hypoxia-inducible factor 1α-vascular endothelial growth factor (HIF1α-VEGF) signaling downstream of leptin signaling. Importantly, several distinct models of HIF1α-VEGF pathway disruption in astrocytes are protected not only from obesity-induced hypothalamic angiopathy but also from sympathetic hyperactivity or arterial hypertension. These results suggest that hyperleptinemia promotes obesity-induced hypertension via a HIF1α-VEGF signaling cascade in hypothalamic astrocytes while establishing a novel mechanistic link that connects hypothalamic micro-angioarchitecture with control over systemic blood pressure. [Display omitted] • The hypothalamic gliovascular interface is dynamically remodeled during obesity • Circulating leptin couples hypercaloric states with hypothalamic microangiopathy • Leptin-induced astroglial HIF1α-VEGF drives angiogenesis in the hypothalamus • VEGF in astrocytes promotes the development of arterial hypertension during obesity Here, Gruber et al. show that during diet-induced obesity in mice there is a profound remodeling of the gliovascular interface in the hypothalamus, resulting in arterial hypertension. This process is driven by elevated leptin levels and upregulation of a HIF1α-VEGF signaling axis in local astrocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]