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)

Amylin, also called islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), or diabetes-associated peptide (DAP) is a recently discovered 37 amino acid polypeptide which has been shown to be co-secreted with insulin from the pancreatic beta-cell. The peptide turned out to be the major constituent of pancreatic amyloid deposits which are frequently found in the pancreas of type II diabetic patients. Therefore, a role for amylin in the aetiology of type II diabetes was hypothesized. To investigate this possibility, several studies have been performed to elucidate whether amylin is able to impair insulin secretion and action, two characteristic features of type II diabetes mellitus. These studies suggest that it is unlikely that amylin has a direct inhibitory effect on insulin secretion. Amyloid deposits, however, which are derived from the in situ polymerization and precipitation of amylin, may impair beta-cell function during type II diabetes by damaging and covering beta-cells. Furthermore, it has been shown that amylin has the potential to antagonize the action of insulin on glucose metabolism by increasing hepatic glucose production and by decreasing muscle, but not adipocyte glucose uptake. For these reasons, it has been suggested that amylin might be involved in the pathophysiology of type II diabetes and obesity, disease states which are characterized by abnormal beta-cell function and insulin resistance. In addition, amylin was shown to induce hypocalcaemia by inhibiting osteoclast-mediated bone resorption in a calcitonin-like manner. Therefore, amylin is likely to be involved in both the modulation of glucose and calcium metabolism.
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PMID:Biological action of pancreatic amylin: relationship with glucose metabolism, diabetes, obesity and calcium metabolism. 140 45

By the term "insulin resistance" we understand the attenuation of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, which is mainly due to attenuated glycogen synthesis in skeletal muscle and is partially compensated with regard to plasma glucose homeostasis by hyperinsulinemia. Other mechanisms of insulin are either not attenuated or are less so and may contribute via hyperinsulinemia to the prevalence of hypertension, obesity, dyslipoproteinemia and type-II diabetes. At the level of insulin receptors, resistance can be due to muscle-specific, preferential expression of the low-affinity B-isoform of the insulin receptors. In rare cases of extreme resistance, it can also be due to several mutations at the insulin receptor gene or due to insulin-receptor autoantibodies. At the postreceptor level, the translocation and or expression of the insulin-responsive glucose carrier GluT-4 can be down-regulated via the hexosamine pathway by hyperglycemia plus hyperinsulinemia. Furthermore, Glut-4 can be inhibited and/or down-regulated by sustained insulin deficiency, partially via c-AMP-dependent pathways. Additionally, the insulin-induced glycogen synthesis in skeletal muscle can be attenuated by the endogenous peptides amylin and calcitonin-gene-related peptide, and by modulations of endothelial function, perfusion and capillary recruitment in the microcirculation of skeletal muscle. Epidemiological data indicate a genetic predisposition for insulin resistance. However, among the many mechanisms potentially contributing to the complex syndrome of insulin resistance, no specific localization of that predisposition can be proposed at present.
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PMID:[The mechanisms of insulin resistance]. 153 3

Central and lateral hypothalamic concentrations of 9 regulatory peptides implicated in the control of feeding behaviour were measured in corpulent (cp/cp) JCR:LA-cp rats which develop spontaneous obesity, hyperinsulinaemia and hyperlipidaemia, and in lean (+/?) controls. In female cp/cp rats, central hypothalamic levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY), neurotensin, somatostatin and substance P were significantly lower (p less than 0.02) than in lean female controls. Following food restriction with a 16% reduction in body weight, these differences were apparently reversed and there were also significant rises in the lateral hypothalamic concentrations of neurotensin and of galanin. The other 4 peptides examined (bombesin, calcitonin gene-related peptide, neuromedin B and vasoactive intestinal peptide) did not differ significantly between cp/cp and lean females, either fed freely or food-restricted. Male cp/cp rats showed no significant differences from lean males in central or lateral hypothalamic concentrations of any of the 9 peptides. NPY and galanin are powerful and specific central appetite stimulants, whereas neurotensin, substance P and somatostatin inhibit feeding when injected centrally. Disturbances in these putative appetite-regulating peptides may be involved in the hyperphagia and other hypothalamic abnormalities in this spontaneous obesity syndrome. The apparent absence of differences between the male corpulent and lean groups may relate to sexual dimorphism of the syndrome, which is more marked in the females.
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PMID:Hypothalamic regulatory peptide disturbances in the spontaneously obese JCR: LA-corpulent rat. 172 Mar 64

An animal model of postmenopausal bone loss can be defined as a living animal in which spontaneous or induced bone loss due to ovarian hormone deficiency can be studied, and in which the characteristics of the bone loss and its sequalae resemble those found in postmenopausal women in one or more respects. Although in comparison to humans, the skeletal mass of rats remains stable for a protracted period during their lifespan, rats can be ovariectomized to make them sex-hormone deficient, and to stimulate the accelerated loss of bone that occurs in women following menopause. Ovariectomy induced bone loss in the rat and postmenopausal bone loss share many similar characteristics. These include: increased rate of bone turnover with resorption exceeding formation; and initial rapid phase of bone loss followed by a much slower phase; greater loss of cancellous than cortical bone; decreased intestinal absorption of calcium; some protection against bone loss by obesity; and similar skeletal response to therapy with estrogen, tamoxifen, bisphosphonates, parathyroid hormone, calcitonin and exercise. These wide-ranging similarities are strong evidence that the ovariectomized rat bone loss model is suitable for studying problems that are relevant to postmenopausal bone loss.
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PMID:The ovariectomized rat model of postmenopausal bone loss. 177 31

Among the candidate genes that have been reviewed herein, adipsin, calcitonin, cholecystokin, Gi alpha and Gs subunits of G proteins, insulin I and II, and lipoprotein lipase have all been mapped to specific chromosomes in mouse or rat or both. In none of these cases is the chromosomal location syntenic with murine obesity genes db (on chromosome 4), or ob (on chromosome 6). Thus, all of these genes that code for metabolic modulators that are altered in obese animals but not in lean animals can be ruled out as possible loci of the primary genetic defect, at least for the murine models of obesity. In the case of neuropeptide Y, growth hormone, glucose transporter GLUT-4, the insulin receptor, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, chromosomal mapping has not yet been reported. However, in each of these cases, the evidence available strongly argues against any one of these physiologic modulators as the likely site of the primary defect for any one of the obesity mutations. Rather, in all of these cases, regardless of whether or not the gene has been mapped, the evidence suggests that posttranscriptional and/or post-translational processes are involved in bringing about the specific alterations in level or activity of the protein product that is seen in the obese animal. Often hormonal regulation is invoked as a possible explanation for the changes observed in gene expression. The hormones most commonly identified as having a mediating effect on the particular metabolic pathways involved are insulin and/or the adrenal glucocorticoids. Since in each of the obese mutants, circulating amounts of these hormones are elevated, severely so in the case of insulin, it would not be surprising to find that they influence the levels and activities of many protein products involved in a variety of central nervous system and peripheral metabolic pathways. Glucocorticoids are known to exert direct effects on gene expression; however, with respect to adipsin gene expression, a direct effect has not been found. Furthermore, insulin itself has been considered as a candidate for the genetic lesion in these animals and has been ruled out by chromosomal localization. Thus, while it may certainly prove to be the case that both insulin and glucocorticoids affect these systems in some way, their effects appear to be indirect. The work by Platt and colleagues in transgenic mice provides the first evidence of signal transduction between an obese mutant allele and the promoter sequence for a gene that shows significantly altered expression in the obese animal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Animal models of obesity: genetic aspects. 189 4

Hypothalamic tissue levels of nine regulatory peptides (bombesin, calcitonin gene-related peptide [CGRP], galanin, neuromedin B, neuropeptide Y [NPY], neurotensin, somatostatin, substance P, and vasoactive intestinal peptide [VIP]) were compared in Aston obese diabetic (ob/ob) and lean (+/?) mice aged 4, 16, and 28 weeks. Neurotensin concentrations were significantly lower in ob/ob mice than in lean mice, with a 20% reduction (P = .03) in the whole hypothalamus at 4 weeks of age, a 24% reduction (P = .009) in the lateral hypothalamus at 16 weeks, and a 50% reduction (P = .0007) in the central hypothalamus at 28 weeks of age. Apart from a 42% increase in vasoactive intestinal peptide concentrations in the central hypothalamus of ob/ob mice at 28 weeks (P = .02), levels of the other eight peptides examined did not differ significantly between obese and lean groups. Neurotensin is known to cause anorexia and increased energy expenditure when injected into the central hypothalamus. Reduced hypothalamic neurotensin concentrations may reflect reduced neurotensinergic activity, which might contribute to hyperphagia and decreased energy expenditure, two major defects that contribute to obesity and diabetes in the ob/ob syndrome.
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PMID:Reduced hypothalamic neurotensin concentrations in the genetically obese diabetic (ob/ob) mouse: possible relationship to obesity. 194 36

We have studied the effects of diet-induced obesity on thyroidal calcitonin, plasma calcitonin, calcium and phosphorus in rats. Twelve 9-week-old female rats were randomly divided into two groups. One group was fed a low-fat diet while the other was fed a high-fat diet. Both diets had 0.76% Ca, 0.56% P and 2.2 U/g vitamin D; however, the high-fat diet had hydrogenated vegetable oil added at 405 g/kg. All rats were pair-fed and consumed 11 g/day per rat for 27 weeks at which time the rats were fasted overnight and exsanguinated. The rats on the high-fat diet weighted 406 +/- 21 g (mean +/- SEM) versus 292 +/- 13 g for controls and had higher levels of serum calcitonin (104 +/- 12 versus 57 +/- 9 pg/ml). The obese rats also had increased thyroidal calcitonin by radioimmunoassay and increased thyroidal C-cells by immunohistology. The increased calcitonin levels occurred without a concomitant increase in calcium levels. These data indicate that a high-fat diet in rats stimulates C-cell growth and calcitonin secretion.
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PMID:A high-fat diet increases calcitonin secretion in the rat. 278 30

Insulin resistance occurs in a variety of conditions, including diabetes, obesity and essential hypertension, but its underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. In type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, it is insulin-resistance in skeletal muscle, the chief site of insulin-mediated glucose disposal in humans, that predominantly accounts for the low rates of glucose clearance from the blood, and hence for impaired glucose tolerance. Human type 2 diabetes is characterized by a decrease in non-oxidative glucose storage (muscle glycogen synthesis), and by the deposition of amyloid in the islets of Langerhans. Amylin is a 37-amino-acid peptide which is a major component of islet amyloid and has structural similarity to human calcitonin gene-related peptide-2 (CGRP-2; ref. 8). CGRP is a neuropeptide which may be involved in motor activity in skeletal muscle. We now report that human pancreatic amylin and rat CGRP-1 are potent inhibitors of both basal and insulin-stimulated rates of glycogen synthesis in stripped rat soleus muscle in vitro. These results may provide a basis for a new understanding of the molecular mechanisms that cause insulin resistance in skeletal muscle.
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PMID:Pancreatic amylin and calcitonin gene-related peptide cause resistance to insulin in skeletal muscle in vitro. 305 May 30

Rat pituitary cells were evaluated in the reverse hemolytic plaque assay for calcitonin (CT) secretion. The secretion of CT could be demonstrated by the formation of hemolytic plaques around single pituitary cells when a specific CT antibody was used. Approximately 0.1 percent of the cells secreted CT in the basal state. Phorbol stimulated CT secretion by up to 25-fold. The diameter of the hemolytic plaques around pituitary cells from genetically obese (Zucker) rats was significantly greater than normal rats (24 versus 37 microns). This study demonstrates that pituitary cells secrete CT and that the secretion may be regulated by pharmacological agents (phorbol) and physiological signals (obesity).
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PMID:Pituitary cells secrete calcitonin in the reverse hemolytic plaque assay. 330 93

The etiology of the alterations in calcitonin (CT) secretion and plasma calcium of genetically obese (fa/fa) rats is unknown. In this study, we tested the postulate that there is an early occurrence of abnormalities in CT biosynthesis by thyroid glands of these rodents. Male genetically obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats and their lean littermates were therefore studied from 30 days to 10 months of age. Obese animals were characterized by hypercalcemia (delta approximately equal to 1 mg/dl), already present at 30 days of age. Increased thyroidal CT stores began at 6 weeks of age in fatty rats. Plasma CT levels were decreased in obese animals from 30 days to 10 weeks of age and were not different in leans and fatties 2 weeks later, but were higher at 10 months in fatty rats. Poly A + RNA were extracted from thyroid glands and subjected to translation assays. After SDS-PAGE, specific immunoprecipitates were autoradiographed and quantified by integration. A similar translation product with an apparent mol wt of 15,000 was specifically immunoprecipitated with CT antisera in obese (fa/fa) and lean Zucker rats at different ages. In 30-day-old fatty rats, a 50% decrease in translatable CT mRNA was observed in association with decreased plasma CT levels. In 12-week-old fatty rats, the translatable CT mRNA activity was unchanged or higher when compared to lean littermates, and clearly higher in 10-month-old fatty rats. The CT mRNA levels measured by dot-blot or northern blot hybridization paralleled at each stage studied the CT mRNA activity, determined by translation. It was concluded that in basal conditions, plasma CT level variations during development reflect the biosynthetic activity of C cells in genetically obese rats. The data presented in this study strengthen the point of an early occurrence of abnormalities in CT mRNA activity and in plasma calcium of fa/fa rats.
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PMID:Calcitonin mRNA activity in genetically obese rats. 379 Jul 14


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