Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Studies of cardiovascular risk factors in children conducted in the Bogalusa Heart Study provide a better understanding of the early natural history of essential hypertension. Contrasts in the biracial community of Bogalusa furnish some clues as to why essential hypertension is more prevalent in blacks. Black children tend to have higher blood pressure levels than whites. Autopsy studies and echocardiographic examinations have provided evidence of early cardiac enlargement in children and young adults with blood pressure levels in the 90th percentile. This suggests that the anatomic changes related to high blood pressure levels occur early in life. Blacks have lower plasma renin and serum dopamine beta-hydroxylase levels than whites. In general, obesity is not as closely correlated with higher blood pressure levels in black children as in white children. Prevention of hypertension should begin in early life. A major approach may be to educate children about cardiovascular risk factors and to encourage them to adopt healthy lifestyles while still young.
 ...
PMID:Pathogenesis of hypertension in black and white children. 262 Apr 71

Twenty-five women at the climacteric age (mean age 48.5 +/- 5.5 years) were treated for simple obesity (mean overweight 37.8%) giving them low-calorie, low-carbohydrate and low-sodium diet for 14 days. The diet was very well tolerated by the patients. The mean weight loss was 4.4 kg, with 72.7% of this loss in the first week on the diet. A considerable reduction of the activity of dopamine beta-hydroxylase were noted, indicating a decrease of the activity of the adrenergic system. At the same time the diet stimulated thyroid function, as shown by increased concentration of total thyroxine (without exceeding the normal upper range), and higher free thyroxine index. Besides that, the serum uric acid level was increased. No changes of electrolyte levels were noted. The diet was effective and well tolerated in this treatment of women in climacteric age for obesity.
 ...
PMID:[Effectiveness of diet therapy of obesity in women in the climacteric period]. 281 40

Adrenaline and noradrenaline, the main effectors of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal medulla, respectively, are thought to control adiposity and energy balance through several mechanisms. They promote catabolism of triglycerides and glycogen, stimulate food intake when injected into the central nervous system, activate thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue, and regulate heat loss through modulation of peripheral vasoconstriction and piloerection. Thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue occurs in response to cold and overeating (diet induced), and there is an inverse relationship between diet-induced thermogenesis and obesity both in humans and in animal models. As a potential model for obesity, we generated mice that cannot synthesize noradrenaline or adrenaline by inactivating the gene that encodes dopamine beta-hydroxylase. These mice are cold intolerant because they have impaired peripheral vasoconstriction and are unable to induce thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue through uncoupling protein (UCP1). The mutants have increased food intake but do not become obese because their basal metabolic rate is also elevated. The unexpected increase in basal metabolic rate is not due to hyperthyroidism, compensation by the widely expressed uncoupling protein UCP2, or shivering.
 ...
PMID:Thermoregulatory and metabolic phenotypes of mice lacking noradrenaline and adrenaline. 913 19

The mechanisms underlying the onset of obesity are complex and not completely understood. An imbalance of autonomic nervous system has been proposed to be a major cause of great fat deposits accumulation in hypothalamic obesity models. In this work we therefore investigated the adrenal chromaffin cells in monosodium glutamate (MSG)-treated obese female mice. Newborn mice were injected daily with MSG (4 mg/g body weight) or saline (controls) during the first five days of life and studied at 90 days of age. The adrenal catecholamine content was 56.0% lower in the obese group when compared to lean controls (P < 0.0001). Using isolated adrenal medulla we observed no difference in basal catecholamine secretion percentile between obese and lean animals. However, the percentile of catecholamine secretion stimulated by high K+ concentration was lower in the obese group. There was a decrease in the tyrosine hydroxylase enzyme expression (57.3%, P < 0.004) in adrenal glands of obese mice. Interestingly, the expression of dopamine beta-hydroxylase was also reduced (47.0%, P < 0.005). Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase expression was not affected. Our results show that in the MSG model, obesity status is associated with a defective adrenal chromaffin cell function. We conclude that in MSG obesity the low total catecholamine content is directly related to a decrease of key catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes, which by its turn may lead to a defective catecholamine secretion.
 ...
PMID:Adrenal medullary function and expression of catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes in mice with hypothalamic obesity. 1509 22

Changes in photoperiod length are transduced into neuroendocrine signals by melatonin (MEL) secreted by the pineal gland triggering seasonally adaptive responses in many animal species. Siberian hamsters, transferred from a long-day 'summer-like' photoperiod (LD) to a short-day 'winter-like' photoperiod (SD), exhibit a naturally-occurring reversal in obesity. Photoperiod-induced changes in adiposity are mediated by the duration of MEL secretion and can be mimicked by exogenously administered MEL into animals housed in LD. Evidence suggests that MEL increases the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) drive to white adipose tissue (WAT). Here, we investigated whether MEL-driven seasonally adaptive losses in body fat are associated with WAT lipolysis and browning. Hamsters were subcutaneously administered vehicle (LD+VEH) or 0.4mg/kg MEL (LD+MEL) daily for 10weeks while animals housed in SD served as a positive control. MEL and SD exposure significantly decreased the retroperitoneal (RWAT), inguinal (IWAT), epididymal (EWAT) WAT, food intake and caused testicular regression compared with the LD+VEH group. MEL/SD induced lipolysis in the IWAT and EWAT, browning of the RWAT, IWAT, and EWAT, and increased UCP1 expression in the IBAT. Additionally, MEL/SD significantly increased the number of shared MEL receptor 1a and dopamine beta-hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons in discrete brain sites, notably the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, arcuate nucleus, locus coeruleus and dorsal motor nucleus of vagus. Collectively, these findings support our hypothesis that SD-exposed Siberian hamsters undergo adaptive decreases in body adiposity due to SNS-stimulated lipid mobilization and generalized WAT browning.
 ...
PMID:Short photoperiod reverses obesity in Siberian hamsters via sympathetically induced lipolysis and Browning in adipose tissue. 2869 54