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Gruber T, Lechner F, Krieger JP, García-Cáceres C. Neuroendocrine gut-brain signaling in obesity. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2024:S1043-2760(24)00120-6. [PMID: 38821753 DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2024.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
The past decades have witnessed the rise and fall of several, largely unsuccessful, therapeutic attempts to bring the escalating obesity pandemic to a halt. Looking back to look ahead, the field has now put its highest hopes in translating insights from how the gastrointestinal (GI) tract communicates with the brain to calibrate behavior, physiology, and metabolism. A major focus of this review is to summarize the latest advances in comprehending the neuroendocrine aspects of this so-called 'gut-brain axis' and to explore novel concepts, cutting-edge technologies, and recent paradigm-shifting experiments. These exciting insights continue to refine our understanding of gut-brain crosstalk and are poised to promote the development of additional therapeutic avenues at the dawn of a new era of antiobesity therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Gruber
- Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI 49506, USA; Department of Epigenetics, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI 49506, USA; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Franziska Lechner
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Diabetes Center, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Jean-Philippe Krieger
- Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Cristina García-Cáceres
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Diabetes Center, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV, Klinikum der Universität, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80336 Munich, Germany.
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Lund C, Ranea-Robles P, Falk S, Rausch DM, Skovbjerg G, Vibe-Petersen VK, Krauth N, Skytte JL, Vana V, Roostalu U, Pers TH, Lund J, Clemmensen C. Protection against overfeeding-induced weight gain is preserved in obesity but does not require FGF21 or MC4R. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1192. [PMID: 38331907 PMCID: PMC10853283 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45223-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Overfeeding triggers homeostatic compensatory mechanisms that counteract weight gain. Here, we show that both lean and diet-induced obese (DIO) male mice exhibit a potent and prolonged inhibition of voluntary food intake following overfeeding-induced weight gain. We reveal that FGF21 is dispensable for this defense against weight gain. Targeted proteomics unveiled novel circulating factors linked to overfeeding, including the protease legumain (LGMN). Administration of recombinant LGMN lowers body weight and food intake in DIO mice. The protection against weight gain is also associated with reduced vascularization in the hypothalamus and sustained reductions in the expression of the orexigenic neuropeptide genes, Npy and Agrp, suggesting a role for hypothalamic signaling in this homeostatic recovery from overfeeding. Overfeeding of melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) KO mice shows that these mice can suppress voluntary food intake and counteract the enforced weight gain, although their rate of weight recovery is impaired. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the defense against overfeeding-induced weight gain remains intact in obesity and involves mechanisms independent of both FGF21 and MC4R.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Lund
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Pablo Ranea-Robles
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sarah Falk
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Dylan M Rausch
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Grethe Skovbjerg
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Gubra ApS, Hørsholm, Denmark
| | | | - Nathalie Krauth
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Vasiliki Vana
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Tune H Pers
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jens Lund
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Christoffer Clemmensen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ. Protein appetite as an integrator in the obesity system: the protein leverage hypothesis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220212. [PMID: 37661737 PMCID: PMC10475875 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the large volume and extensive range of obesity research, there is substantial disagreement on the causes and effective preventative strategies. We suggest the field will benefit from greater emphasis on integrative approaches that examine how various potential contributors interact, rather than regarding them as competing explanations. We demonstrate the application of nutritional geometry, a multi-nutrient integrative framework developed in the ecological sciences, to obesity research. Such studies have shown that humans, like many other species, regulate protein intake more strongly than other dietary components, and consequently if dietary protein is diluted there is a compensatory increase in food intake-a process called protein leverage. The protein leverage hypothesis (PLH) proposes that the dilution of protein in modern food supplies by fat and carbohydrate-rich highly processed foods has resulted in increased energy intake through protein leverage. We present evidence for the PLH from a variety of sources (mechanistic, experimental and observational), and show that this mechanism is compatible with many other findings and theories in obesity research. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Causes of obesity: theories, conjectures and evidence (Part II)'.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Stephen J. Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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