Melanocortin neurons conserve body mass in hyper- or hypo-caloric conditions by conveying signals from nutrient sensors into areas of the brain governing appetite and metabolism. In mice, melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R) deletion alters nutrient partitioning independently of hyperphagia, promoting accumulation of fat over muscle mass. Enhanced rhythms in insulin and insulin-responsive metabolic g...

Dr Dave Morgan, email [email protected] LH, l t ral hypothalamus The increase in obesity and its associated complications of diabetes, heart disease and hypertension is one of the greatest health problems facing the Western world. An understanding of the mechanisms regulating food intake, energy expenditure and energy balance is important for combating this epidemic. The hypothalamus is the cru...

Background Olanzapine is an orexigenic antipsychotic drug associated with serious metabolic adverse effects in humans. Development of valid rodent models for antipsychotic-induced metabolic adverse effects is hampered by the fact that such effects occur in females only. Estradiol is a predominant female hormone that regulates energy balance. We hypothesized that the female-specific hyperphagia ...

The neuropeptide transmitter cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) inhibits food intake and is expressed by both vagal afferent and hypothalamic neurons. Here we report that cholecystokinin (CCK) regulates CART expression in rat vagal afferent neurons. Thus, CART was virtually undetectable after energy restriction for 24 h, but administration of CCK to fasted rats increased CART ...

Ghrelin is a growth hormone-releasing peptide that also displays orexigenic activity. Since serine-3 acylation with octanoylate (octanoylation) is essential for the orexigenic activity of ghrelin, suppression of octanoylation could lead to amelioration or prevention of obesity. To enable the exploration of inhibitors of octanoylated ghrelin production, we developed a cell-based assay system usi...

Though the hunger-reduction phenomenon reported during ketogenic diets is well-known, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms remain uncertain. Ketosis has been demonstrated to exert an anorexigenic effect via cholecystokinin (CCK) release while reducing orexigenic signals e.g., via ghrelin. However, ketone bodies (KB) seem to be able to increase food intake through AMP-activated prote...

Maintaining glucose levels within the appropriate physiological range is necessary for survival. The identification of specific neuronal populations, within discreet brain regions, sensitive to changes in glucose concentration has led to the hypothesis of a central glucose-sensing system capable of directly modulating feeding behaviour. Glucokinase (GK) has been identified as a glucose-sensor r...

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) stimulates feeding and weight gain, but deletion of the NPY gene does not affect food intake and body weight in mice bred on a mixed genetic background. We reasoned that the orexigenic action of NPY would be evident in C57Bl/6J mice susceptible to obesity. NPY deficiency has no significant effect in mice fed a normal rodent diet. However, energy expenditure is elevated duri...

Ghrelin was recently identified as an endogenous ligand of the GH secretagogue receptor. The novel peptide hormone is produced by gastric A-like cells, and circulating levels rise before feeding, suggestive of ghrelin as an endogenous hunger factor. ghrelin stimulates food intake and promotes adiposity after peripheral or central administration, likely by activating hypothalamic neurons express...

The present study summarized recent findings on roles of leptin and endocannabinoids as modulators of the peripheral components of sweet taste. The positive effect of endocannabinoids on sweet sensitivity was opposed to that of leptin which suppresses sweet sensitivity. Leptin and endocannabinoids, therefore, not only regulate food intake via central nervous systems but also may modulate palata...