BACKGROUND The proportion of saturated fatty acids/unsaturated fatty acids in the diet seems to act as a physiological regulation on obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Differently composed fatty acid diets may induce satiety of the hypothalamus in different ways. However, the direct effect of the different fatty acid diets on satiety in the hypothalamus is not clear. METHODS Thre...

Billions of birds migrate long distances to either reach breeding areas or to spend the winter at more benign places. On migration, most passerines frequently stop over to rest and replenish their fuel reserves. To date, we know little regarding how they decide that they are ready to continue their journey. What physiological signals tell a bird's brain that its fuel reserves are sufficient to ...

Hyperthyroidism causes increased energy intake and expenditure, although anorexia and higher weight loss have been reported in elderly individuals with hyperthyroidism. To determine the effect of age on energy homeostasis in response to experimental hyperthyroidism, we administered 200 μg tri-iodothyronine (T3) in 7- and 27-mo-old rats for 14 d. T3 increased energy expenditure (EE) in both the ...

OBJECTIVE Evidence links the hypothalamic fatty acid synthase (FAS) pathway to the regulation of food intake and body weight. This includes pharmacological inhibitors that potently reduce feeding and body weight. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is an intracellular fuel sensor whose activity in the hypothalamus is also linked to the regulation of energy balance. The purpose of these exp...

The hypothalamic melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) is a constituent of an important pathway regulating food intake and energy expenditure. We produced a monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against the N-terminal domain of the MC4R and evaluated its potential as a possible therapeutic agent. This mAb (1E8a) showed specific binding to the MC4R in human embryonic kidney 293 cells expressing the human ...

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a central role in regulating energy homeostasis, and may provide novel strategies for the treatment of human obesity. BAT-mediated thermogenesis is regulated by mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in classical brown and ectopic beige adipocytes, and is controlled by sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Previous work indicated that fish oil intake reduces fat ...

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of rumen-protected γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on feed intake, growth performance and expression of related genes in growing lambs. A total of 24 lambs weaned at age of 50 days were divided into four block of six based on their BW, six lambs within a block were allocated to three pairs, which were then assigned randomly to three treatments with...

Recent data support an important role for vitamin D in respiratory health. We tested the hypothesis that dietary vitamin D3 (VD3) intake modulates diaphragm (DIA) strength. Four-week-old female A/J mice (n = 10/group) were randomized to receive diets containing 100 IU VD3/kg (low), 1,000 IU VD3/kg (reference), or 10,000 IU VD3/kg (pharmacologic). After 6 wk of dietary intervention, plasma 25-hy...

Oral sensory signals drive dietary fat intake, but the neural mechanisms underlying this process are largely unknown. The endocannabinoid system has gained recent attention for its central and peripheral roles in regulating food intake, energy balance, and reward. Here, we used a sham-feeding paradigm, which isolates orosensory from postingestive influences of foods, to examine whether endocann...

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and its receptor are abundantly distributed in the brain, especially in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus associated with regulating energy homeostasis. To elucidate the possible involvement of CNP in energy regulation, we examined the effects of intracerebroventricular administration of CNP on food intake in mice. The intracerebroventricular adminis...