Lifestyle and Metabolic Syndrome: Contribution of the Endocannabinoidome

Abstract

Lifestyle is a well-known environmental factor that plays a major role in facilitating the development of metabolic syndrome or eventually exacerbating its consequences. Various lifestyle factors, especially changes in dietary habits, extreme temperatures, unusual light–dark cycles, substance abuse, and other stressful factors, are also established modifiers of the endocannabinoid system and its extended version, the endocannabinoidome. The endocannabinoidome is a complex lipid signaling system composed of a plethora (>100) of fatty acid-derived mediators and their receptors and anabolic and catabolic enzymes (>50 proteins) which are deeply involved in the control of energy metabolism and its pathological deviations. A strong link between the endocannabinoidome and another major player in metabolism and dysmetabolism, the gut microbiome, is also emerging. Here, we review several examples of how lifestyle modifications (westernized diets, lack or presence of certain nutritional factors, physical exercise, and the use of cannabis) can modulate the propensity to develop metabolic syndrome by modifying the crosstalk between the endocannabinoidome and the gut microbiome and, hence, how lifestyle interventions can provide new therapies against cardiometabolic risk by ensuring correct functioning of both these systems.