Stephen Woods

..The final section reviews how these signals are received and integrated by the CNS, as well as the neural circuits and transmitters involved...

..Further, endogenous MCH does not seem to regulate alcohol drinking, however because the antagonist failed to attenuate MCH-induced alcohol intake this conclusion is tentative...

..This model of diet-induced obesity will be a useful tool for studying the mechanisms by which dietary fat influences the regulation of energy balance...

..Within the brain insulin acts on specific receptors to influence a number of behaviors, and especially caloric homeostasis and cognition...

..The implications of this are discussed...

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..Further research into the EC system is warranted to elucidate its role in metabolic homeostasis...

..Finally, their actions include gastrointestinal and metabolic as well as behavioural effects...

..This short article documents that progress...

..This review discusses hormonal and related satiety signals generated as food is being consumed, and upon adiposity signals related to the amount of fat stored in the body, that influence energy intake and ultimately body weight...

..Considerable effort is being directed towards finding ways to intervene in specific circuits to help accomplish weight loss...

..HF-fed animals, independent of whether they become obese or not, also have central insulin and MTII insensitivity. Finally, HF rats have a down-regulated hypothalamic apo A-IV system that could contribute to their hyperphagia...

..It is argued that the malleability of satiation signals renders them poor candidates as pharmacological targets to control body weight...

..Energy balance is critical for survival and health, and control of food intake is an integral part of this process. This report reviews hormonal signals that influence food intake and their clinical applications...

..In view of the complexities of the energy control system, therapeutic strategies that target only one site are likely to be less effective than those targeting two or more sites...

..In a final section, drug tolerance is discussed as a natural consequence of evolution-derived, meal-related learning processes, with associated negative consequences...

..Most factors that influence how much food is eaten during individual meals act by changing the sensitivity to satiety signals. This includes adiposity signals as well as habits and learning, the social situation, and stressors...

..Body-weight regulation occurs as adiposity signals alter the efficacy of meal-generated satiety signals...

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..Thus, insulin mimetics have a unique advantage over insulin in the control of body weight and hold potential as a novel anti-obesity treatment...

..The sex difference in leptin signaling on POMC neurons on glucose tolerance appears independent of ovarian hormones...

..We sought to determine how inhibiting adipose tissue vasculature changes key aspects of energy balance regulation and the neuroendocrine system that maintains energy balance...

..Hence, genetic manipulations that influence brain insulin sensitivity in mice can now more easily be integrated with the broader literature on energy homeostasis...

..However, because the physiological relevance of this finding is unclear, we tested the hypothesis that endogenous MCH signaling enhances alcohol consumption...

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..These findings suggest the D3-R signaling is involved in the regulation of body weight and body fat when mice are given access to diets differing in palatability and fat content...

..Thus, mTOR is a cellular fuel sensor whose hypothalamic activity is directly tied to the regulation of energy intake...

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..Importantly, the CNS GLP-1 system loses the capacity to modulate adipocyte metabolism in obese states, suggesting an obesity-induced adipocyte resistance to CNS GLP-1...

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..We conclude that CCK is involved in metabolic rate and is important for memory and exploration. CCK is intimately involved in multiple processes related to cognitive function and food intake regulation...

..We tested the hypothesis that a history of drinking alcohol would cause SUB rats to consume even greater amounts of alcohol...

..We proposed that mice with a disruption in the CCK gene (CCK knockout [CCK-KO] mice) that were fed a diet of 20% butter fat would have altered fat metabolism...

..These data suggest that NPY plays a role in mediating conditionable food-anticipatory responses that help to cope with the effects of large caloric loads...

..Because insulin and leptin reflect different fat beds and are differentially distributed in the male and female sexes, the implication is that the male and female sexes regulate adiposity-relevant parameters differently...

..We also reveal molecular underpinnings for direct control of the CNS-Mcr over lipid metabolism. These results suggest ways to design more efficient pharmacological methods for controlling adiposity...

..Collectively, these data indicate that the action of leptin in POMC neurons is sexually different to influence the regulation of energy balance, fat distribution, and glucose homeostasis...

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..5 microg) reduction of feeding, indicating the existence of a functional synergistic interaction between leptin and apo A-IV, leading to suppression of food intake...

..These data are consistent with an important component of neural mediation of GLP-1 action...

..Overall, these findings point strongly to the possibility that reduced hypothalamic mTORC1 signaling contributes to the development of hyperphagia, weight gain, and leptin resistance during diet-induced obesity...

..Collectively, the data suggest that the GM-CSF knockout mutation ameliorates peripheral insulin resistance in spite of increased adiposity by reducing inflammation in adipose tissue in response to a HFD...

..In summary, the VBS model of chronic social stress is an ethologically relevant animal model and provides a valuable tool for studies of stress-related conditions and pathologies...

..These effects are independent of the anorectic action of the drug...

..In addition, c-Fos expression was not colocalized with proopiomelanocortin-positive neurons. These data support a synergistic interaction between apo A-IV and melanocortins that reduces food intake by acting downstream of the arcuate...

..We also show that the obese phenotype is not transmitted to offspring generated by mating male and female cloned mice...

..Together, these data are consistent with a role for ghrelin in the regulation of anticipatory processes involved in food intake and nutrient disposition...

..Together, these results suggest that consumption of a high-fat diet can rapidly alter meal patterns, which in turn contribute to the development of adiposity...

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..In summary, these data are consistent with the conclusion that acute i3vt amylin infusion does not reduce food intake by producing aversive consequences...

..Our data suggest that a neural circuit in the brain is directly involved in the control of cholesterol metabolism by the liver...

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..These data collectively support the hypothesis that apo A-IV, produced by neuronal cells, may exert its anorectic action by interacting with catabolic regulatory neuropeptides...

..These findings document for the first time a cephalic increase of plasma GLP-1 and suggest that it functions to facilitate consumption of a large meal...

..These data indicate that an increased signaling of endogenous apo A-IV may partially mediate estradiol-induced inhibitory effect on feeding...

..We conclude that the formation and/or secretion of chylomicron are critical steps for initiating neuronal activation in the brain...

..Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) produces dramatic, sustained weight loss; we investigated whether these changes result from improved sensitivity to leptin...

..Fatty Zucker rats had 4.5 times more ghrelin receptor mRNA in the hypothalamus than lean Zucker rats, suggesting a possible mechanism for the increased sensitivity...

..Hence, insulin and leptin provide important negative feedback signals to the central nervous system, proportional to peripheral energy stores and coupled with catabolic circuits...

..In summary, we have found sexual dimorphisms in the response to fat loss that point to important underlying differences in the strategies by which male and female mice regulate body weight...

..Furthermore, the D3-R -/- mice adequately learn a CTA to ethanol and do not ham differing taste reactivity to saccharin or quinine. However, D3-R -/- mice do appear to have a slower rate of ethanol metabolism...

..Taken together, these data suggest that while peripheral GLP-1 may be involved in the regulation of food intake, the key GLP-1 receptors are unlikely to be those associated with vagal afferent nerves innervating the hepatic portal vein...

..The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether hypothalamic mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling is involved in mediating the effects of FAS inhibitors...

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..Therefore, chronic social stress causes social status-dependent changes in BW, composition and endocrine measures that persist after repeated stress and recovery cycles and that may ultimately lead to metabolic disorders and obesity...

..These data illustrate both critical differences among various WAT depots and how they influence glucose homeostasis and highlight important differences between males and females in glucose regulation...

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..The most unusual and exemplary aspect of his precocity is that the outstanding performance of his first decade was maintained during the subsequent 30years...

..These data suggest that insulin can reduce food intake in acute delivery paradigms and provide another means by which to assess the roles of other central systems in the mediation of insulin's effects on energy homeostasis...

..These data suggest that the hypothalamic melanocortin system mediates the anorexic effects of central insulin, as well as of leptin...

..Teleological, molecular, physiological, and clinical aspects of this hypothesis are presented, along with a discussion of currently available supporting evidence...

..Chronic food restriction accompanied by reduced dietary fat may increase risk for bouts of overeating...

..These findings support the importance of evaluating the contribution of gastrointestinal hormones to the weight loss seen with bariatric surgery...

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..These findings suggest that stress-related influences over food intake, particularly those mediated via CRH, interact with relative adiposity as signaled to the brain by central insulin...

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..However, in animals that had access to HF diet, 7-OH-DPAT dose-dependently reduced intake. These results support a potential role for the D3-R in ingestive behavior particularly in situations that involve a significant learned component...

..These studies represent the first comprehensive set of data to characterize cloned mice and provide critical information about the long-term effects of somatic cell cloning...

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..These results support the hypothesis that D3Rs chronically inhibit the effects of adiposity hormones, thereby contributing to a net anabolic state...

..Despite that OEA-induced anorexia is unlikely to be due to impaired motor activity, our data raise a cautionary note in how specific behavioral and metabolic effects of OEA should be interpreted...

..e., based on the proposed research, novel therapies for individuals with impaired glucose tolerance might include specific eating regimens that would yield powerful health benefits to complement pharmacological approaches. ..

..The strength of the faculty has enabled us to recruit outstanding trainees, and the fruits of this effort are manifest in the productivity and job opportunities that accrued to the trainees supported in the current funding period. ..

..Experiments will use normal (wild-type) mice and mice lacking TNF1 or its receptors. ..