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Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Obesity is a common nutritional problem often associated with diabetes, insulin resistance, and fatty liver (excess fat deposition in liver). Leptin-deficient Lep(ob)/Lep(ob) mice develop obesity and those obesity-related syndromes. Increased lipogenesis in both liver and adipose tissue of these mice has been suggested. We have previously shown that the transcription factor sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) plays a crucial role in the regulation of lipogenesis in vivo. To explore the possible involvement of SREBP-1 in the pathogenesis of obesity and its related syndromes, we generated mice deficient in both leptin and SREBP-1. In doubly mutant Lep(ob/ob) x Srebp-1(-/-) mice, fatty livers were markedly attenuated, but obesity and insulin resistance remained persistent. The mRNA levels of lipogenic enzymes such as fatty acid synthase were proportional to triglyceride accumulation in liver. In contrast, the mRNA abundance of SREBP-1 and lipogenic enzymes in the adipose tissue of Lep(ob)/Lep(ob) mice was profoundly decreased despite sustained fat, which could explain why the SREBP-1 disruption had little effect on obesity. In conclusion, SREBP-1 regulation of lipogenesis is highly involved in the development of fatty livers but does not seem to be a determinant of obesity in Lep(ob)/Lep(ob) mice.
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PMID:Absence of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP-1) ameliorates fatty livers but not obesity or insulin resistance in Lep(ob)/Lep(ob) mice. 1192 8

Obesity in children and adolescents is a public health problem on the increase and is the most prevalent metabolic and nutritional disorder in developed countries. As a major non-transmissible disease, obesity has taken on epidemic proportions in developed countries and displaced malnutrition and infections as a major cause of deterioration in health and quality of life. Obesity has thus become one of the great health issues of the 21st century. The WHO recently declared obesity to be a new worldwide syndrome as it not only has a high prevalence in developed countries but also in the so-called emerging economies, the "newly westernized" or "Coca-Colanized" countries as in the case of China, Brazil and Eastern European states where obesity exists alongside malnutrition, as well as in under-developed countries where the prevalence is increasing among the better-off segments of the population.
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PMID:[Obesity, an emerging problem in pediatrics. Inaugural Conference of the Eight National Congress of the Nutrition Spanish Society, Murcia, October 24-27, 2001]. 1204 76

Obesity accelerates morbidity and mortality and has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an epidemic in many industrialised nations [101,102]. Diet, exercise and lifestyle recommendations have proven to be mostly ineffective in adequately preventing or treating the progression of this public health disease. Existing drug treatment is limited by the scarce number of safe and well-tolerated drugs with proven long-term efficacy in maintaining weight loss. Numerous anti-obesity drugs in development have promise. Yet, despite that obesity is the single most common nutritional problem in many developed nations and despite the devastating health consequences of this unchecked epidemic, investigational anti-obesity drugs face unique and significant challenges due to past and current experiences with anti-obesity drugs. It is anticipated that new anti-obesity drugs for this serious, multifaceted metabolic disease will become as safe and effective and as medically accepted as the treatment of other metabolic disorders such as hypertension, dyslipidaemia or Type 2 diabetes mellitus. This may be particularly important, given that these metabolic disorders may be largely due to or exacerbated by obesity itself.
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PMID:Anti-obesity drug development. 1222 42

Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in the United States. Growing evidence suggests that obesity initiates a cascade of disorders including hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and chronic renal disease, many of which are interdependent. Abnormal kidney function, caused by increased renal tubular reabsorption, initiates volume expansion and increased blood pressure during excess weight gain, and the hypertension and metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity, in turn, contribute to chronic renal disease. Obesity causes cardiac and vascular disease through well-known mediators such as hypertension, type II diabetes, and dyslipidemia, but there is evidence for less well-characterized mediators such as chronic inflammation and hypercoagulation. Although obesity is increasingly recognized as a serious health problem, there are still many unanswered questions about how the multiple disorders associated with excess weight gain interact to cause cardiovascular and renal disease. Also, there are few studies that have examined whether sustained weight loss in obese subjects can reverse these changes. In view of the "epidemic" of obesity in our country and the excess burden of cardiovascular and renal disease in minority populations, addressing these issues is of paramount importance for the Jackson Heart Study, as well as for other national health initiatives.
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PMID:Mechanisms of obesity-associated cardiovascular and renal disease. 1224 Jul 10

Obesity, the most common nutritional disorder in industrial countries, is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Nevertheless, the molecular basis linking obesity with cardiovascular disturbances have not yet been fully clarified. Recent advances in the biology of adipose tissue indicate that it is not simply an energy storage organ, but also a secretory organ, producing a variety of bioactive substances, including leptin and adiponectin, that may influence the function as well as the structural integrity of the cardiovascular system. Leptin, besides being a satiety signal for the central nervous system and to be related to insulin and glucose metabolism, may also play an important role in regulating vascular tone because of the widespread distribution of functional receptors in the vascular cells. On the other hand, the more recently discovered protein, adiponectin, seems to play a protective role in experimental models of vascular injury, in probable relation to its ability to suppress the attachment of monocytes to endothelial cells, which is an early event in the atherosclerotic process. There is already considerable evidence linking altered production of some adipocyte hormones with the cardiovascular complications of obesity. Therefore, the knowledge of alterations in the endocrine function of adipose tissue may help to further understand the high cardiovascular risk associated with obesity.
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PMID:Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ: role of leptin and adiponectin in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. 1290 5

Obesity and weight loss have been shown to alter thyroid hormone homeostasis in humans. In dogs, obesity is the most common nutritional problem encountered and weight loss is the cornerstone of its treatment. Therefore, it is important to clarify how obesity and weight loss can affect thyroid function test results in that species. The objectives of this study were to compare thyroid function in obese dogs and in lean dogs and to explore the effects of caloric restriction and weight loss on thyroid hormone serum concentrations in obese dogs. In the first experiment, 12 healthy lean beagles and 12 obese beagles were compared. Thyroid function was evaluated by measuring serum concentrations of total thyroxine (TT4), free thyroxine (FT4), total triiodothyronine (TT3), thyrotropin (TSH), and reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) as well as a TSH stimulation test using 75 microg i.v. of recombinant human TSH. In the second experiment, eight obese beagles were fed an energy-restricted diet [average 63% maintenance energy requirement (MER)] until optimal weight was obtained. Blood samples for determination of TT4, FT4, TT3, TSH and rT3, were taken at the start and then weekly during weight loss. Only TT3 and TT4 serum concentrations were significantly higher in obese dogs as compared to lean dogs. In the second experiment, weight loss resulted in a significant decrease in TT3 and TSH serum concentrations. Thus obesity and energy restriction significantly alter thyroid homeostasis in dogs, but the observed changes are unlikely to affect interpretation of thyroid function test results in clinics.
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PMID:Evaluation of thyroid function in obese dogs and in dogs undergoing a weight loss protocol. 1294 59

Obesity is arguably the world's most prevalent nutritional disorder and is a substantial contributor to morbidity and early mortality. Obesity is known to have a strong genetic component, but the specific influential genes in humans are largely unknown. A new paper describes a genetic variant that appears as though it may cause some people to be fatter or thinner than others (see the related article beginning on page 1762). This commentary considers the strength of the evidence in support of this finding and discusses additional research questions that should be addressed in further evaluations of this genetic variant as a putative contributor to human obesity.
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PMID:Do allelic variants of SLC6A14 predispose to obesity? 1466 Jul 52

Obesity has become the most prevalent nutritional disorder in post-industrialised societies and it is associated with the development of severe and costly complications such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease or cancer. A large proportion of the risk of obesity is determined by the genetic susceptibility of an individual, but environmental factors conducive for the disorder play an important role in its phenotypic expression. Several candidate genes emerged from studies in animal models of obesity, but human pathophysiology is likely to be more complex. Thus, most cases of human obesity probably result from subtle interactions of susceptibility genes with environmental factors favouring deposition of excess calories as fat. The recent surge of obesity may relate to past evolutionary pressure which favoured selection of mechanisms defending body-weight against caloric restriction rather than against caloric excess. Rapidly developing new techniques in quantitative genetics and growing information from functional genomics will help to understand the interaction of environmental factors with signalling networks that regulate energy metabolism. The role of previously unknown pathways in the aetiology of obesity will be uncovered. The typing of numerous genetic variants will become possible and allow individual risk assessment for obesity and/or its associated disorders. Thus, rational and individually tailored therapies may be developed to combat obesity and its associated disorders.
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PMID:[Pathophysiology and genetics of obesity]. 1549 92

Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in small animals. To establish a computed tomographic (CT) method for assessment of visceral and subcutaneous fat content in the dog, CT analysis was performed in normal and obese beagles. Fat area was measured by the level detection method at varied attenuation ranges and compared with body fat content estimated by the deuterium oxide dilution method. Fat area measured at L3 using the attenuation range of -135/-105 Hounsfield unit had the best correlation with body fat content (r = 0.98). Regional fat distribution was almost the same between normal and obese dogs, with more fat accumulation at L1-S1 than T10-T13. Moreover, visceral and subcutaneous fat area could be estimated separately. This CT method may contribute to both the clinical diagnosis and the study of canine obesity, especially for studies in the relationship between body fat distribution and obesity-associated diseases.
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PMID:Computed tomographic assessment of body fat in beagles. 1569 59

Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in the Western world. Actually, 250 million adults are obese, and 500 million adults and 22 million children under 5 years of age are overweight. Obesity is a complex trait, depending upon interactions between multiple genes and the environment, but its recent rise and "epidemic proportions" are, above all, the consequences of dramatic changes in lifestyle, socioeconomic progress, and political and cultural trends. Eating behavior has strong extraphysiological determinants, being influenced by neuroendocrine, nutritional, environmental, and cognitive stimuli, able to modify the body weight set-point. Health care professionals should be concerned about obesity, because of the well-established relations between excess body weight and pathologies such as type II diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, dyslipidemia, and cancer, which afflict more and more people in the Western world--sort of "well-being syndromes." An overview of modern Western diets--the American, Mediterranean, Atkins, and Zone diets--reveals the contradictions existing about the correct and healthy approach to human nutrition and suggests a "return to Nature." From the actual artificial nutrition systems, based on cereals, milk, and their products, irrespective of our genome and metabolic attitudes, a simple diet based on natural food can be an ally in health maintenance and restoration.
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PMID:A natural diet versus modern Western diets? A new approach to prevent "well-being syndromes". 1571 28


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