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

The administration of monosodium-L-glutamate (MSG) during the neonatal period is known to result in central nervous system lesions in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus and the retina. Rodents so treated exhibit behavioral deficts and endocrinopathies including obesity, hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, pituitary atrophy, tail automutilation and diminished locomotor activity. Assessment of endocrine status revealed normal serum levels of glucagon, thyroid-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, and diminished levels of thyroid hormones and growth hormone in MSG-treated rats. Prolactin levels were elevated in the glutamate-treated male rats. Within the brain hypothalamic levels of thyrotropin-releasing hormone, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, and somatostatin were unchanged. Measurement of neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter-related enzymes in individual hypothalamic nuclei derived from MSG-treated rats revealed normal levels of norepinephrine, serotonin and glutamic acid decarboxylase, but reduced levels of choline acetyltransferase and dopamine in the arcuate nucleus and median eminence. Histochemical methods for visualization of dopamine and acetylcholinesterase in the mediobasal hypothalamus confirmed these findings. The MSG-treated animals exhibited a normal diurnal rhythm of pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity. These data indicate that the MSG-induced endocrine deficiency syndrome results at least partly from destruction of cholinergic and dopamingeric tuberoinfundibular systems in the hypothalamus.
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PMID:Models of neuroendocrine regulation: use of monosodium glutamate as an investigational tool. 3 35

Genetically obese male Zucker rats (fa/fa) and their lean littermates (Fa/-) were used in this experiment. Fourteen-week-old obese and lean littermates were sacrificed and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzymes were assayed in specific brain regions. The assays of these enzymes indicate that obese animals had a significantly lower ChAT activity in the cerebellum, pons, and cerebral cortex and a significant increase in ChAT activity in the thalamus and hypothalamus. Meanwhile, the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, midbrain, thalamus and hypothalamus of the obese animals showed significantly higher AChE activity than their lean littermates. It was concluded from this study that obesity may be associated with changes in the enzymes of the brain cholinergic system.
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PMID:Altered brain cholinergic enzymes activity in the genetically obese rat. 191 66

Obese patients are characterised by several neuroendocrine abnormalities, including characteristically a decrease in growth hormone responsiveness to GH-releasing hormone. In normal subjects, the GH response to GHRH is enhanced by the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, pyridostigmine. We have studied the effect of this drug on GH secretion in gross obesity. Twelve obese patients were studied (mean weight 156% of ideal) and compared with a group of 8 normal volunteers. Each subject was initially studied on two occasions, in random order, with GHRH (1-29) NH2 100 micrograms iv alone and following pretreatment with pyridostigmine 120 mg orally one hour prior to GHRH. In obese patients, the GH response to GHRH was significantly blunted when compared to controls (GH peak: 20 +/- 4 vs 44 +/- 16 micrograms/l; mean +/- SEM). After pyridostigmine, the response to GHRH was enhanced in the obese subjects, but remained significantly reduced compared to non-obese subjects treated with GHRH and pyridostigmine (GH peak: 30 +/- 5 vs 77 +/- 20 micrograms/l, respectively). In 6 subjects, higher doses of GHRH or pyridostigmine did not further increase GH responsiveness in obese patients. Our results suggest that obese patients have a disturbed cholinergic control of GH release, probably resulting from increased somatostatinergic tone. This disturbed regulation may be responsible, at least in part, for the blunted GH responses to provocative stimuli.
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PMID:Pyridostigmine enhances, but does not normalise, the GH response to GH-releasing hormone in obese subjects. 210 45

We have evaluated the effect of acute administration of pyridostigmine bromide, a cholinesterase inhibitor, on the GHRH-induced GH rise in 11 obese children and in 8 age-matched controls. The GH response to GHRH (hpGRF 1-40, 1 microgram/kg iv), evaluated both as maximum GH peak and as integrated area under the curve, was significantly lower in the obese children than in the controls. Pretreatment with pyridostigmine bromide (60 mg orally 60 min before the GHRH injection) significantly increased both baseline GH levels and the GH response to GHRH in all the obese subjects, so that their mean baseline GH, peak GH levels and integrated area under the curve after pyridostigmine bromide plus GHRH were similar to those of the control children after GHRH. Also in control children pyridostigmine bromide increased (though not significantly) baseline GH levels. and caused a significant augmentation of the GH response to GHRH. Mean peak GH levels and mean integrated area under the curve after pyridostigmine bromide plus GHRH were significantly higher in the controls than in the obese children given the same treatment. Mean baseline Sm-C levels were significantly higher in the obese than in control children. These data show that enhancement of cholinergic neurotransmission, likely in the hypothalamus, counteracts the blunted GH response to GHRH present in the obese children, and that in simple obesity the potential of the pituitary to make a secretory response to a direct GH secretagogue is preserved.
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PMID:Pyridostigmine counteracts the blunted growth hormone response to growth hormone-releasing hormone of obese children. 249 49

In obesity the reduced growth hormone (GH) responses to several provocative stimuli including growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) indicate a diminished somatotroph responsiveness but do not distinguish between primary pituitary and hypothalamic pathogenesis. However, it has been shown that the cholinergic system positively influences Gh secretion likely by modulating somatostatin release in a negative way. Thus, the effect of cholinergic activity enhancement by pyridostigmine (PD), an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, on both basal and GHRH-induced GH secretion was studied in 14 obese subjects (eight adults and six children). Eighteen nonobese subjects (seven adults and 11 children) were studied as controls. In obese subjects the GHRH-induced GH increase was lower than in controls (peak, mean +/- SEM, adults, 9.2 +/- 2.7 v 16.8 +/- 5.7 ng/mL; children, 8.0 +/- 0.8 v 20.3 +/- 4.6 ng/mL) attaining statistical significance only in children group (P less than .02). The PD-induced GH response in the two obese groups was similar to that observed in relative controls (adults, 5.3 +/- 1.0 v 7.4 +/- 1.7 ng/mL; children, 9.6 +/- 1.6 v 13.3 +/- 1.4 ng/mL). PD clearly potentiated the GH response to GHRH in obese subjects, both adults (P less than .05 v GHRH alone) and children (P less than .0005 v GHRH alone). However, the GH responses to PD + GHRH was significantly reduced in obese subjects compared with controls (adults, 18.1 +/- 2.2 v 42.7 +/- 10.7 ng/mL, P less than .05; children, 28.3 +/- 4.5 v 58.2 +/- 7.7 ng/mL, P less than .01). In conclusion, PD is able to potentiate the blunted GH responses to GHRH in obese adults and children, inducing a GH increase similar to that observed after GHRH alone in normal subjects. This finding suggests that an alteration of somatostatinergic tone could be involved in the reduced GH secretion in obesity.
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PMID:Effect of cholinergic enhancement by pyridostigmine on growth hormone secretion in obese adults and children. 250 May 77

Time and feeding influences on cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose and insulin levels, and serum cholinesterase activity were assessed in a genetically-hyperlipidemic hyperphagic obese rat model, and compared with its lean litter-mate. Following a 28-day acclimation to a 12-hr light/dark cycle, blood samples were obtained every 2 hr from rats via tail bleed for a 24-hr period. Synchronization with other animal studies was established by endogenous serum cortisol levels [acrophase 18-20 hr after light onset (HALO) in both groups]. Triglycerides cholesterol, insulin and glucose levels were significantly elevated in obese versus lean rats. Obese rats were observed to feed throughout the 24-hr cycle, whereas lean litter-mates ate only during the dark cycle. No circadian rhythmicity was found in glucose levels with either rat group. Insulin levels were not correlated. Although triglyceride levels peaks at 13 HALO in lean rats, no pattern was observed in obese rats. Cholesterol levels were unchanged with time in either group. Cholinesterase activity followed a circadian rhythm in the lean, but not obese, rats with an acrophase estimated at 8 HALO. In contrast to previous reports, enzyme activity was not correlated with triglyceride levels in either rat group. Circadian similarities in insulin levels between rat groups suggest changes in insulin metabolism and/or secretion which are likely to be independent of feeding or activity. Conversely, triglyceride levels remained elevated throughout the 24-hr period in obese rats, whereas significant increases were observed in lean rats during the dark active cycle. These data suggest that triglyceride levels, and not insulin and cholesterol levels, are most likely dependent on feeding patterns.
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PMID:Circadian assessment of lipids in the hyperphagic obese rat compared with lean litter-mates. 268 Jan 23

Two groups, 16 nonalcoholic steatohepatitis patients (group I) and 22 alcoholic hepatitis patients (group II) classified according to the presence or absence of drinking and their histological characteristics, were compared on the basis of clinical, biochemical, and liver biopsy findings. The frequencies of female patients (p less than 0.01), obesity (p less than 0.001), and maturity-onset diabetes (p less than 0.005) were significantly greater in group I than in group II. The serum glutamic pyruvic transminase (p less than 0.05) and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (p less than 0.05) contents were significantly greater in group II than in group I. The cholinesterase content (p less than 0.05) was significantly less in group II. Significant differences were found in the grades of nuclear vacuolation (p less than 0.001, Fisher's exact probability test), periportal pericellular fibrosis, proliferation of bile ductules, and changes in the shape of the portal tracts (p less than 0.001, Wilcoxon's rank-sum test). Zonal necrosis in group I was seen in only severe steatohepatitis. These clinical and biochemical findings were found to be useful in differentiating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis from alcoholic hepatitis. Liver biopsy was of limited value at best in separating the two conditions.
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PMID:Comparison between nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and alcoholic hepatitis. 360 26

Obesity is often associated with coronary heart disease and metabolic disorders. In this study, the relationship between obesity and metabolic disorders and between obesity and fatty liver by ultrasonography was investigated in 307 university students (18-20 years old, men: 196, women; 111). The correlation between Body Mass Index (BMI) and the thickness of subcutaneous fat (ST) was significant between BMI and the ratio between waist and hip circumference (WHR) was more significant in male students (r = 0.838, p < 0.001) than in female students (r = 0.639, p< 0.001). The incidence of fatty liver was significantly higher in male obese students (68.6%) than in female obese students (27.3%). After adjustment for BMI, ST, WHR and sigma glucose, the mean values for serum transaminase, cholinesterase, total cholesterol, uric acid, fasting plasma insulin and sigma insulin were significantly higher in male obese students with fatty liver than in male obese students without fatty liver. The present study suggested that male obese students with fatty liver are more likely to have metabolic disorders than male obese students without fatty liver.
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PMID:[Fatty liver and obesity in university students]. 747 66

Ultrasonic and laboratory studies were performed in 816 white-collar workers over 35 years old who received health examination. Prevalence of fatty liver diagnosed by ultrasonography was 17.9% in all subjects and was maximum (24.4%) in males 45-49 years of age. Obesity index and body mass index were higher in fatty liver than in normal controls. Serum levels of glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), cholinesterase, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GTP), triglyceride, total cholesterol, uric acid, HbA1c and glucose were significantly higher, and a serum level of HDL-cholesterol was significantly lower in males with fatty liver than in controls with obesity. Prevalence of abnormal laboratory findings in fatty liver was also shown, and prevalence of fatty liver was prominently high in males with severe obesity or with mild elevation of GPT. A major cause of fatty liver was considered as obesity. In conclusion, fatty liver was a common cause of liver dysfunction and was closely related to risk factors for atherosclerosis especially in white-collar workers.
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PMID:[Ultrasonic and laboratory studies on fatty liver in white-collar workers]. 764 60

Serum pseudocholinesterase (PChE) was discovered in 1932. Since this protein mimics many of the catalytic properties of acetylcholinesterase, it has traditionally been referred to as PChE, even though its true biological function is unknown. Serum PChE is synthesized in the liver and secreted into the circulation as a sialated glycoprotein. Although no convincing evidence of biological function exists, a significant number of obese and diabetic patients have elevated levels of PChE. The same phenomenon is found in experimental animal models of obesity, diabetes and hyperlipoproteinemia. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice showed increased serum PChE activity concomitant with increased serum triacylglycerol and PChE activity declined with treatment. Iso-OMPA, a nontoxic inhibitor of serum PChE, reduced serum and liver triacylglycerols and serum VLDL in streptozotocin-induced rodent diabetes. These findings suggest that PChE may have a role in VLDL metabolism.
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PMID:Serum pseudocholinesterase and very-low-density lipoprotein metabolism. 793 19


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