(Press-News.org) The number of people who suffer from one or more of the adverse complications of obesity, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease is rapidly increasing. Thus far, drugs designed to treat obesity have shown limited efficacy and have been associated with serious side effects. This is largely because we have limited understanding of the effects of obesity on our natural mechanisms of body weight control. For example, while great strides have been made in our understanding of how the brain controls our desire to feed, as well as the processes underlying the balancing of energy intake and expenditure, little is known about how the are altered by obesity. Two independent groups of researchers have now generated data that begin to address this issue.
In brief, a team of researchers led by Michael Schwartz, at the University of Washington, Seattle, has found that in both humans and rodents, obesity is associated with neuronal injury in an area of the brain crucial for body weight control (the hypothalamus). A second team of researchers, led by Jeffrey Flier, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, has determined that turnover of nerve cells in the hypothalamus is inhibited by obesity.
###
TITLE:
Remodeling of the arcuate nucleus energy-balance circuit is inhibited in obese mice
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Jeffrey Flier
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Phone: 617-432-1501; Fax: 617-432-3907; E-mail: jeffrey_flier@hms.harvard.edu
ACCOMPANYING ARTICLE
TITLE:
Obesity is associated with hypothalamic injury in rodents and humans
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Michael W Schwartz
University of Washington, South Lake Union Campus, Seattle, WA, USA
Phone: 206-897-5288; Fax: 206 897 5293; E-mail: mschwart@u.washington.edu
How obesity alters the brain area involved in body weight control
2011-12-29
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Beneficial or not beneficial: that is the question for IL-1 inhibition in atherosclerosis
2011-12-29
Atherosclerosis is a disease of the major arterial blood vessels. It is one of the major causes of heart attack and stroke. The proinflammatory molecule IL-1 has been linked to atherosclerosis and a clinical trial has been launched in which an antibody specific for IL-1-beta is being studied for its effects on the severe clinical complications of atherosclerosis (i.e., heart attack and stroke). However, a team of researchers led by Gary Owens, at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, has now generated data in mice that raise potential concerns about this clinical ...
JCI online early table of contents: Dec. 27, 2011
2011-12-29
EDITOR'S PICK
Another potential obstacle to developing an HIV vaccine
A clinical trial testing a candidate HIV vaccine known as the STEP study was halted in September 2007 after interim analysis indicated that the vaccine did not work. Moreover, subsequent analyses indicated that the vaccine made some individuals more susceptible to HIV, in particular individuals who had pre-existing immune effectors (antibodies) that recognized a component of the vaccine (adenovirus serotype 5 [Ad5]). A team of researchers led by Juliana McElrath, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research ...
Tests for biomarker may help determine diagnosis of heart attack within hours
2011-12-29
CHICAGO – For patients admitted to an emergency department with chest pain, use of a contemporary or highly sensitive test for levels of troponin I (a protein in muscle tissue) may help rule-out a diagnosis of heart attack, while changes in the measured levels of this biomarker at 3 hours after admission may be useful to confirm a diagnosis of heart attack, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA.
One of the most common reasons patients seek care in an emergency department is for acute chest pain. "Early identification of individuals at high and intermediate ...
Perception of inappropriate care frequent among ICU workers
2011-12-29
CHICAGO – A survey of nurses and physicians in intensive care units (ICUs) in Europe and Israel indicated that the perception of inappropriate care, such as excess intensity of care for a patient, was common, and that these perceptions were associated with inadequate decision sharing, communication and job autonomy, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA.
"Clinicians perceive the care they provide as inappropriate when they feel that it clashes with their personal beliefs and/or professional knowledge. Intensive care unit workers who provide care perceived ...
Analysis does not support genetic test before use of anti-clotting drug
2011-12-29
CHICAGO – Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that a certain type of genetic testing (for the genotype CYP2C19) be considered before prescribing the drug clopidogrel to identify individuals who may be less responsive to the medication, a review and analysis of previous studies did not find an overall significant association between the CYP2C19 genotype and cardiovascular events, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA.
Clopidogrel is an antiplatelet drug used by approximately 40 million patients worldwide to treat or prevent ...
Possible Defenses To A DUI Charge
2011-12-29
You are sitting in your car, watching the red lights in your rearview mirror. The officer exits their vehicle and begins walking toward your car.
The next thing you know, you have been charged with a DUI. What do you do now?
You may think you have no chance, that even though you did not feel intoxicated or impaired, the blood alcohol content reading of the breathalyzer showed you were over the limit, and you are as good as convicted. Machines don't make mistakes, do they?
Challenging A DWI Charge
While it may seem an open and shut case, there may be multiple ...
Oxidative DNA damage repair
2011-12-29
Oxidative stress is the cause of many serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis and diabetes. It occurs when the body is exposed to excessive amounts of electrically charged, aggressive oxygen compounds. These are normally produced during breathing and other metabolic processes, but also in the case of ongoing stress, exposure to UV light or X-rays. If the oxidative stress is too high, it overwhelms the body's natural defences. The aggressive oxygen compounds destroy genetic material, resulting in what are referred to as harmful 8-oxo-guanine base mutations ...
Irikaitz archaeological site -- host to a 25,000-year-old pendant
2011-12-29
The recent discovery of a pendant at the Irikaitz archaeological site in Zestoa (in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa) has given rise to intense debate: it may be as old as 25,000 years, which would make it the oldest found to date at open-air excavations throughout the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. This stone is nine centimetres long and has a hole for hanging it from the neck although it would seem that, apart from being adornment, it was used to sharpen tools. The discovery has had great repercussion, but it is not by any means the only one uncovered here by the team ...
Whistleblowing Remedies in New Jersey
2011-12-29
Recent decisions by the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Appellate Division clarify the definition of "adverse employment action" that triggers New Jersey's "whistleblower law," known as the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA).
Adverse Employment Action
John Seddon had worked for Dupont 30 years when he filed a complaint with OSHA, the federal office for occupational safety and health. Seddon's complaint involved DuPont's practice of inspecting employee vehicles at the gate of the plant.
Employees had to stand by the side of a busy ...
Targeted blocking of cell death prevents fatal condition septic shock
2011-12-29
Ghent, Belgium 27 December 2011 - Researchers of VIB and UGent have discovered a new approach to preventing septic shock, an often fatal extreme inflammatory reaction of the body. It is the most frequent cause of death at intensive care departments in hospitals. In sepsis, acute inflammation is attended by low blood pressure and blood clots, causing the organs to stop working. Only recently, the Brazilian football legend Socrates, died of the consequences of this condition. In a new study in the top journal Immunity, Peter Vandenabeele and colleagues of VIB-UGent described ...