Stress, cortisol, and obesity: a role for cortisol responsiveness in identifying individuals prone to obesity

There is a strong inter-relationship between activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and energy homeostasis. Patients with abdominal obesity have elevated cortisol levels. Furthermore, stress and glucocorticoids act to control both food intake and energy expenditure. In particular, glucocorticoids are known to increase the consumption of foods enriched in fat and sugar. It is well-known that, in all species, the cortisol response to stress or adrenocorticotropin is highly variable. It has now emerged that cortisol responsiveness is an important determinant in the metabolic sequelae to stress. Sheep that are characterized as high-cortisol responders (HRs) have greater propensity to weight gain and obesity than low-cortisol responders (LRs). This difference in susceptibility to become obese is associated with a distinct metabolic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral phenotype. In women and ewes, HR individuals eat more in response to stress than LR. Furthermore, HR sheep have impaired melanocortin signaling and reduced skeletal muscle thermogenesis. High-cortisol responder sheep exhibit reactive coping strategies, whereas LRs exhibit proactive coping strategies. This complex set of traits leads to increased food intake and reduced energy expenditure in HR and thus, predisposition to obesity. We predict that cortisol responsiveness may be used as a marker to identify individuals who are at risk of weight gain and subsequent obesity.

High cortisol response to adrenocorticotrophic hormone identifies ewes with reduced melanocortin signalling and increased propensity to obesity

We have identified female sheep that have either high (HR) or low (LR) cortisol responses to adrenocorticotrophin. On a high-energy diet, HR have greater propensity to weight gain and obesity, although the underlying mechanisms remain to be determined. Hypothalamic appetite-regulating peptides (ARP) exert reciprocal effects on food intake and energy expenditure. We aimed to quantify the expression and function of ARP in LR and HR ewes (n = 4 per group). Gene expression for neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related peptide (AgRP) pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), orexin and the melanocortin receptors (MC3R and MC4R) was measured by in situ hybridisation. Expression of NPY, AgRP and POMC was similar in HR and LR, although expression of orexin, MCH, MC3R and MC4R was higher (P < 0.05) in LR. Intracerebroventricular infusions of a low dose (50 μg/h) of NPY, α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (αMSH), orexin and MCH were performed between 10.00 h and 16.00 h in meal-fed ewes (n = 6-7 per group). Skeletal muscle and retroperitoneal (RP) fat temperatures were recorded using dataloggers. Post-prandial thermogenesis in muscle was higher (P < 0.05) in LR. There was little effect of ARP infusion on muscle or fat temperature in either group. Infusion of these doses of NPY, MCH or orexin did not stimulate food intake in meal-fed ewes, although αMSH reduced (P < 0.01) food intake in LR only. Using 24-h ARP infusions with ad lib. feeding, NPY increased (P < 0.001) food intake in both groups but αMSH was only effective in LR (P < 0.05). In summary, we show that HR are resistant to the satiety effects of αMSH and this coincides with a reduced expression of both the MC3R and MC4R in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. We conclude that an increased propensity to obesity in HR female sheep is associated with reduced melanocortin signalling.