An "obesity-risk" allele alters hunger-stimulating hormone production
Individuals carrying the "obesity-risk" allele of the fat mass and obesity associated gene, FTO, are prone to obesity and obesity related eating behaviors such as increased food consumption, preference for high fat foods and lack of satiation after eating. How this particular gene regulates obesity prone behaviors is not fully understood. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Rachel Batterham and colleagues at University College London identify a link between FTO and the hunger-stimulating hormone, ghrelin. Subjects homozygous for the "obesity-risk" allele of FTO had higher concentrations of circulating ghrelin after eating, which correlated with an absence of satiation. They demonstrate that FTO directly demethylates ghrelin mRNA, altering its production. These studies offer new insight into why individuals that carry the "obesity-risk" allele of the FTO gene are prone to obesity.
TITLE: A link between FTO, ghrelin and impaired brain food-cue responsivity
AUTHOR CONTACT: Rachel Batterham
University College London, London, UNK, GBR
Phone: +447989380466; E-mail: r.batterham@ucl.ac.uk
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/44403?key=aa10477f9753d525a366
Adult brown fat levels increased with cold acclimation
Brown adipose tissue or brown fat is abundant in newborns, providing them with body heat, and naturally decreases with age. Recent studies have shown that adults with detectable levels of brown fat have lowered rates of obesity and higher resting metabolic rates. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Anouk van der Lans and colleagues at Maastrricht University and Takeshi Yoneshiro and colleagues at Hokkaido University investigate therapies for increasing brown fat activity in adults. Both groups show that a regimen of daily exposure to cold temperatures increased both brown adipose tissue and metabolic rates. Subjects that were exposed to daily cold for 6 weeks also showed a reduction in body fat mass. These findings indicate that brown fat activity in adults can be increased and that cold acclimation and capsinoid ingestion maybe valuable strategies in the fight against obesity.
TITLE: Recruited Brown Adipose Tissue as an Anti-Obesity Agent in Humans
AUTHOR CONTACT: Takeshi Yoneshiro
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, , JPN
Phone: +81-01-706-5895; Fax: ; E-mail: yoneshiro@med.hokudai.ac.jp
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67803?key=f98119ab90b7fc7a93e0
ACCOMPANYING ARTICLE
TITLE: Cold acclimation recruits human brown fat and increases nonshivering thermogenesis
AUTHOR CONTACT: Anouk van der Lans
Maastricht University Medical Center & Nutrition and Toxicology Research In, Maastricht, , NLD
Phone: 0031(0)433384259; E-mail: a.vanderlans@maastrichtuniversity.nl
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/68993?key=0928642dcf1342f4f1e6
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
TITLE: Medullary thymic epithelial cell depletion leads to autoimmune hepatitis
AUTHOR CONTACT: Konstantina Alexandropoulos
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Phone: 212-659-8610; E-mail:k.alexandropoulos@mssm.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/65414?key=39d914fcb351429d0d0c
TITLE: FK506 activates BMPR2, rescues endothelial dysfunction, and reverses pulmonary hypertension
AUTHOR CONTACT: Marlene Rabinovitch
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
Phone: 650-723-8239; Fax: 650-723-6700; E-mail: marlener@stanford.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/65592?key=e6a7147e2831380e7ea5
TITLE: FoxOs attenuate bone formation by suppressing Wnt signaling
AUTHOR CONTACT: Maria Almeida
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA
Phone: 501-686-7856; E-mail: schullermaria@uams.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/68049?key=aa55ba0f91e55abd0f4d
TITLE: Atrial natriuretic peptide is negatively regulated by microRNA-425
AUTHOR CONTACT: Pankaj Arora
Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Phone: 6176437551; E-mail: ionparora@partners.org
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67383?key=84d4452ad3c4bf9cc164
TITLE: Cerebrovascular degradation of TRKB by MMP9 in the diabetic brain
AUTHOR CONTACT: Eng Lo
Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
Phone: 617-726-4043; E-mail:Lo@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/65767?key=3894fbd523e6672186f5
Journal
Journal of Clinical Investigation