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Query: UMLS:C0020505 (hyperphagia)
 6,116 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The discovery of both neuropeptide Y and of leptin has led to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of obesity syndromes in animal models. It has strengthened the concept of the importance of the hypothalamus in the etiology of these syndromes. Due to alterations in the regulation of the hypothalamus, e.g. by insulin, by leptin or by decreases in the availability of glucose in specific brain areas, most animal models of obesity have higher than normal hypothalamic neuropeptide Y levels. As neuropeptide Y is a potent orexigenic agent, this hypothalamic defect explains why obese rodents are hyperphagic. Increased hypothalamic neuropeptide Y levels produce hyperinsulinemia and hypercorticism, two abnormalities previously reported in obesity, but whose origin is now known to be driven by neuropeptide Y. As hyperinsulinemia favors lipid accretion and muscle insulin resistance, and as hypercorticism favors the occurrence of both high circulating triglyceride levels and muscle insulin resistance, it may be appreciated that most disorders previously reported in obesity can now be explained by high hypothalamic neuropeptide Y levels. Leptin, produced and secreted by adipose tissue, is a potent anorectic agent whose main action is exerted within the hypothalamus in which it has been shown to decrease neuropeptide Y, therefore food intake. Leptin secretion is favored, in particular, by insulin as well as by glucocorticoids. When leptin is administered to obese mice of the ob/ob strain (which do not produce nor secrete leptin due to a gene mutation), their food intake, body weight and most metabolic abnormalities are normalized. However, in the majority of genetically obese rodents, as well as in obese humans, circulating levels of leptin are high. This is related to hyperinsulinemia- and hypercorticosteronemia-induced leptin oversecretion, as well as to central leptin receptor dysfunctions preventing normal leptin access to and action within specific brain areas. Under these conditions and to prevent the effects of elevated hypothalamic neuropeptide Y levels, neuropeptide Y antagonists or active leptin agonists must be found. Neuropeptide Y and leptin further underline the existence of functional relationship between the brain (hypothalamus) and the periphery (adipose tissue, muscle). Lack of leptin (mutated leptin gene) or inefficient leptin action (leptin receptor defect) results in increased hypothalamic neuropeptide Y levels. The latter favor hyperinsulinemia and hypercorticism both producing oversecretion of leptin which, when inefficient, cannot decrease neuropeptide Y: a vicious circle is created which maintains either a "thrifty phenotype" favoring fat depot or overt obesity, depending on the degree of hyperphagia.
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PMID:Central nervous system and body weight regulation. 923 33

With the exception of ob/ob mice, circulating plasma leptin is elevated in all other obese rodents as well as in obese humans, suggesting that leptin resistance rather than leptin deficiency is a characteristic feature of obesity. The exact molecular mechanisms leading to leptin resistance and the applicability of exogenous leptin to overcome resistance to the anorectic effect of the hormone, are insufficiently characterized. The aim of this study was to investigate whether chronic leptin administration could prevent the development of obesity and its associated disorders in transgenic mice with toxigene mediated ablation of brown adipose tissue (BAT). Daily injections of leptin were started at the age of 6 weeks, when body weight, food intake and plasma leptin levels of transgenics were not different from control mice. Over the next 6 weeks, leptin treated transgenics showed the same excessive body weight gain as transgenic mice injected with saline. Leptin treatment was furthermore not able to prevent the development of hyperphagia, hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinaemia and hyperlipidaemia in transgenic mice. In contrast, control mice injected with leptin had significantly lower body weight, food intake and plasma triglycerides than those treated with saline. In summary, leptin treatment was not able to prevent the development of obesity and its associated abnormalities in transgenic mice with BAT deficiency. This data suggests that intact BAT function is of critical importance for leptin's effect on food intake and energy expenditure, and that primary dysfunction of BAT is associated with leptin resistance, even when hyperleptinaemia is not yet present.
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PMID:Chronic leptin treatment does not prevent the development of obesity in transgenic mice with brown fat deficiency. 924 2

Leptin 167 an amino acid product of the recently discovered obesity gene "ob-gene", is a tissue hormone of adipose tissue. It is a hormonal satiety signal or a signal for terminating food intake. Its level rise after a meal or after administration. Rats with a mutation of the ob-gene have zero or very low leptin levels, are hyperphagic, obese and sterile, develop diabetes as a result of overeating. Administration of recombinant leptin arrests hyperphagia, the body weight declines and sexual function improve partly, in particular in males. It seems that leptin controls not only the function of the hypothalamic satiety centre but also the output of GnRh and other liberins as well as thermoregulation, muscular and sexual activity and thus energy expenditure. In the majority of obese rats and human the leptin levels are significantly higher compared with asthenic individuals, proportionate to the percentage of body fat and BMI. Obesity promotes also insulin resistance and penetration of the H-phenomenon into the phenotype. In the insulin resistance syndrome (5H-X) it may thus be assumed that there is a parallel leptin and insulin resistance, probably of the postreceptor type, and even a causal association, as the "db" gene is identical with the gene for leptin receptors.
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PMID:[Leptin and its biological and clinical significance. Is leptin and insulin resistance in the X-5H hormonal metabolic syndrome a parallel or causally-linked phenomenon?]. 924 68

New Zealand Obese (NZO) mice exhibit a polygenic syndrome of hyperphagia, obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperglycemia similar to that observed in young diabetes mutant mice on the C57BLKS/J background (C57BLKS/J-Lepr(db)/Lepr(db)). Here we show that in NZO this syndrome is accompanied by a marked elevation of the leptin protein in adipose tissue and serum. The promoter region and the complementary DNA of the ob gene of NZO mice, including its 5'-untranslated region, are identical with the wild-type sequence (C57BL, BALB/c), except that the transcription start is located 5 bp upstream of the reported site. In contrast to C57BLKS/J+/+ and C57BL/6J-Lep(ob)/Lep(ob) mice, NZO mice failed to respond to recombinant leptin (7.2 microg/g) with a reduction of food intake. Leptin receptor messenger RNA as detected by PCR appears as abundant in hypothalamic tissue of NZO mice as in tissue from lean mice. Ten nucleotide polymorphisms are found in the complementary DNA of the leptin receptor, resulting in two conservative substitutions (V541I and V651I) in the extracellular part of the receptor and one nonconservative substitution (T1044I) in the intracellular domain between the presumed Jak and STAT binding boxes. However, these mutations are also present in the related lean New Zealand Black strain (body fat at 9 weeks: New Zealand Black, 6.2 +/- 1.3%; NZO, 17.0 +/- 1.7%). Thus, the polymorphic leptin receptor seems to play only a minor, if any, role in the obesity and hyperleptinemia of the NZO mouse. It is suggested that the main defect in NZO is located distal from the leptin receptor or at the level of leptin transport into the central nervous system.
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PMID:Hyperleptinemia, leptin resistance, and polymorphic leptin receptor in the New Zealand obese mouse. 932 35

1. The thiazolidinedione BRL 49653 (rosiglitazone) induces hyperphagia and weight gain in obese, insulin-resistant fatty Zucker rats but not in lean insulin-sensitive rats. We investigated whether these responses might involve neuropeptide Y (NPY), leptin and insulin. 2. BRL 49653 (1 mg kg(-1) day(-1), orally) was given for 7 or 20 days to fatty and lean Zucker and Wistar rats. 3. In lean rats of either strain, BRL 49653 had no effect on food intake, body weight, plasma insulin and corticosterone, NPY or NPY mRNA levels. 4. Fatty rats given BRL 49653 showed a 30% increase in food intake and accelerated body weight gain (both P<0.01) after 7 and 20 days, but without significant changes in regional hypothalamic NPY or NPY mRNA levels. 5. Plasma leptin levels were twice as high in untreated fatty Zucker rats as in lean rats (P<0.01), but were unaffected by BRL 49653 given for 20 days. However, BRL 49653 reduced insulin levels by 42% and increased corticosterone levels by 124% in fatty rats (both P<0.01). 6. Hyperphagia induced in fatty Zucker rats by BRL 49653 does not appear to be mediated by either a fall in circulating leptin levels or increased activity of hypothalamic NPYergic neurones. The fall in plasma insulin and/or rise in corticosterone levels during BRL 49653 treatment may be involved, consistent with the postulated role of these hormones in the control of food intake.
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PMID:Increased feeding in fatty Zucker rats by the thiazolidinedione BRL 49653 (rosiglitazone) and the possible involvement of leptin and hypothalamic neuropeptide Y. 942 Dec 88

We have isolated a stable, transplantable, and small glucagonoma (MSL-G-AN) associated with abrupt onset of severe anorexia occurring 2-3 wk after subcutaneous transplantation. Before onset of anorexia, food consumption is comparable to untreated controls. Anorexia is followed by adipsia and weight loss, and progresses rapidly in severity, eventually resulting in reduction of food and water intake of 100 and 80%, respectively. During the anorectic phase, the rats eventually become hypoglycemic and hypothermic. The tumor-associated anorexia shows no sex difference, and is not affected by bilateral abdominal vagotomy, indicating a direct central effect. The adipose satiety factor leptin, known to suppress food intake by reducing hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY) levels, was not found to be expressed by the tumor, and circulating leptin levels were reduced twofold in the anorectic phase. A highly significant increase in hypothalamic (arcuate nucleus) NPY mRNA levels was found in anorectic rats compared with control animals. Since elevated hypothalamic NPY is among the most potent stimulators of feeding and a characteristic of most animal models of hyperphagia, we conclude that the MSL-G-AN glucagonoma releases circulating factor(s) that overrides the hypothalamic NPY-ergic system, thereby eliminating the orexigenic effect of NPY. We hypothesize a possible central role of proglucagon-derived peptides in the observed anorexia.
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PMID:Transplantable rat glucagonomas cause acute onset of severe anorexia and adipsia despite highly elevated NPY mRNA levels in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. 943 24

Obesity is associated with an increased incidence of infection, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, which together account for most obesity-related morbidity and mortality. Decreased expression of leptin or of functional leptin receptors results in hyperphagia, decreased energy expenditure, and obesity. It is unclear, however, whether defective leptin-dependent signal transduction directly promotes any of the conditions that frequently complicate obesity. Abnormalities in tumor necrosis factor alpha expression have been noted in each of the above comorbid conditions, so leptin deficiency could promote these complications if leptin had immunoregulatory activity. Studies of rodents with genetic abnormalities in leptin or leptin receptors revealed obesity-related deficits in macrophage phagocytosis and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines both in vivo and in vitro. Exogenous leptin up-regulated both phagocytosis and the production of proinflammatory cytokines. These results identify an important and novel function for leptin: up-regulation of inflammatory immune responses, which may provide a common pathogenetic mechanism that contributes to several of the major complications of obesity.
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PMID:Leptin regulates proinflammatory immune responses. 943 11

Chronic cold exposure stimulates sympathetically driven thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT), resulting in fat mobilization, weight loss, and compensatory hyperphagia. Hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons are implicated in stimulating food intake in starvation, but may also suppress sympathetic outflow to BAT. This study investigated whether the NPY neurons drive hyperphagia in rats that have lost weight through cold exposure. Rats exposed to 4 degrees C for 21 days weighed 14% less than controls maintained at 22 degrees C (P < 0.001). Food intake increased after 3 days and remained 10% higher thereafter (P < 0.001). Increase BAT activity was confirmed by 64, 96, and 335% increases in uncoupling protein-1 mRNA at 2, 8, and 21 days. Plasma leptin decreased during prolonged cold exposure. Cold-exposed rats showed no significant changes in NPY concentrations in any hypothalamic regions or in hypothalamic NPY mRNA at any time. We conclude that the NPY neurons are not activated during cold exposure. This is in contrast with starvation-induced hyperphagia, but is biologically appropriate since enhanced NPY release would inhibit thermogenesis causing potentially lethal hypothermia. Other neuronal pathways must therefore mediate hyperphagia in chronic cold exposure.
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PMID:Hyperphagia in cold-exposed rats is accompanied by decreased plasma leptin but unchanged hypothalamic NPY. 945 99

The hypothalamic disorders of obesity include hyperphagia, a low central orthosympathetic tone (with reduced thermogenesis), vagal hyperinsulinism, low serotonin efficacy, a hyperactive hypothalamo-hypophyseal-adrenal axis, a hypoactive GHRH-GH-IGF axis and hypogonadism of central origin. Hyperlipogenesis, glucose intolerance and excessive gluconeogenesis are secondary features. Most frequently the hypothalamic ARC reacts poorly to the leptin hypersecreted by adipose tissue, so that the local synthesis of NPY is unchecked. Fortunately, two prostaglandins derived from dietary arachidonic acid bind fat cell PPAR gamma and hepatic PPAR alpha. Both nuclear proteins are phosphorylated through an insulin pathway, thereby inhibiting the expression of genes favoring obesity and stimulating that of genes accelerating fatty acid oxidation. The array of dietetic and pharmacologic tools considered today is analyzed.
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PMID:[Molecular endocrinology of hereditary obesity]. 949 39

Weight gain is a major side-effect of treatment with clozapine. In order to investigate the influence of the atypical neuroleptic clozapine on leptin secretion, serum leptin levels were measured in 12 patients at baseline and for a 10-week period after initiation of treatment. Serum clozapine levels and levels of its metabolites were simultaneously assessed. Alterations of body weight and body composition were determined. During the 10-week observation period leptin levels differed significantly from the levels determined at baseline (P < 0.0001). During the first 2 weeks of treatment serum leptin levels at least doubled in eight of the 12 patients. The maximal relative increase over baseline was 536%. Low doses of clozapine were sufficient to induce this effect. Within a 10-week period mean body weight, mean body mass index, mean fat mass and mean lean body mass all increased. Based on the results we suggest that in predisposed individuals clozapine induces an increased appetite; overeating and weight gain can ensue, which in turn underlie elevated leptin secretion.
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PMID:Serum leptin levels increase rapidly after initiation of clozapine therapy. 949 17


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