The Endocannabinoid System: Role in Energy Regulation

Gamage, Thomas F.; Lichtman, Aron H.

doi:10.1002/pbc.23367

Cited by 26 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Nevertheless, Rivera's group attempted, for the first time, to investigate a functional link between the endocannabinoid system and cell proliferation in a model of diet-induced obesity ( 93 ) . The endocannabinoids, intracellular signalling lipid-related molecules, are well known to stimulate feeding ( 94 ) and, through in vitro work and the use of cannabinoid receptor knockout mice, had been known for some time to regulate neurogenesis in both the developing and adult nervous systems ( 95 – 99 ) . However, how the two phenomena are linked was unknown.…”

Section: Sfamentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between dietary macronutrients and adult neurogenesis in the regulation of energy metabolism

2013

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Of the environmental factors which have an impact on body weight, nutrients are most influential. Within normal limits, hypothalamic and related neuronal populations correct perturbations in energy metabolism, to return the body to its nutritional set-point, either through direct response to nutrients or indirectly via peripheral appetite signals. Excessive intake of certain macronutrients, such as simple carbohydrates and SFA, can lead to obesity and attendant metabolic dysfunction, also reflected in alterations in structural plasticity, and, intriguingly, neurogenesis, in some of these brain regions. Neurogenesis, previously thought to occur only in the embryo, is now known to take place in the adult brain, dependent on numerous stimulating and inhibiting factors, including dietary components. Because of classic associations between neurogenesis and the hippocampus, in learning and cognition, this brain region has also been the focus of attention in the study of links between diet and neurogenesis. Recently, however, a more complete picture of this relationship has been building: not only has the hypothalamus been shown to satisfy the criteria for a neurogenic niche, but appetite-related mediators, including circulating hormones, such as leptin and ghrelin, pro-inflammatory cytokines and the endocannabinoid intracellular messengers, are also being examined for their potential role in mediating neurogenic responses to macronutrients. The present review draws together these observations and investigates whether PUFA may exert their attenuating effects on body weight through the stimulation of adult neurogenesis. Exploration of the effects of nutraceuticals on neurogenic brain regions may encourage the development of new rational therapies in the fight against obesity.Key words: Macronutrients: Adult neurogenesis: High-fat diets: PUFA Maintenance of a healthy body weight and composition is important for the achievement of lifelong health and wellbeing (1) . It occurs through the successful balancing of energy expenditure and energy intake within a normal range, which is controlled by several complex regulatory systems (2) , themselves being governed by the interaction with both internal and external environmental factors. Internal factors include circulating metabolic and hormonal signals, whereas the nutrients that we consume are the most influential external factors. Their effects on body weight depend not only on the amount consumed, but also on their type. Thus, a diet high in carbohydrates and/or fat will encourage weight gain (3) ; however, genetic contribution notwithstanding (4) the nature of that gain -how much adipose tissue accrues and where it is deposited in the body -will depend on whether carbohydrates are simple or complex, and whether fats are saturated or polyunsaturated (5,6) .The current obesity epidemic is thought to be largely attributable to excessive consumption of palatable foods, high in refined (simple) sugars and saturated fats (3) . As part of a complex causation, including re...

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Section: Sfamentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between dietary macronutrients and adult neurogenesis in the regulation of energy metabolism

2013

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“…They are also overexpressed by immune competent cells of the brain following tissue injury, illness, and stress [150]. Cannabinoid receptors are activated by endogenous ligands, the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, which are biosynthesised locally during disruption of cell and tissue homeostasis, and act as autocrine [151] or paracrine [152] mediators to counteract such disruption [153][154][155]. CBD has very low affinity for CB1 and CB2 receptors, but inhibits anandamide inactivation, thus behaving as a weak 'indirect' CB1 and CB2 agonist.…”

Section: Spasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Polypharmacology Shakes Hands with Complex Aetiopathology

Brodie

Marzo²,

Guy

2015

Trends in Pharmacological Sciences

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“…To date, it has been found that ECS is actively involved in control of several biological processes of pivotal importance in physiological and pathological conditions, such as memory and learning, mood, fear, food intake, immune response, and reproduction, neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, anxiety, depression, immune deficiency, obesity, skin disorders, and fertility/infertility [76–82] .…”

Section: The Use Of Biological Network To Explore Cells Signalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biological networks in studying cell signal transduction complexity: The examples of sperm capacitation and of endocannabinoid system

Bernabò

Barboni

Maccarrone

2014

Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

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Cellular signal transduction is a complex phenomenon, which plays a central role in cell surviving and adaptation. The great amount of molecular data to date present in literature, together with the adoption of high throughput technologies, on the one hand, made available to scientists an enormous quantity of information, on the other hand, failed to provide a parallel increase in the understanding of biological events. In this context, a new discipline arose, the systems biology, aimed to manage the information with a computational modeling-based approach. In particular, the use of biological networks has allowed the making of huge progress in this field.Here we discuss two possible application of the use of biological networks to explore cell signaling: the study of the architecture of signaling systems that cooperate in determining the acquisition of a complex cellular function (as it is the case of the process of activation of spermatozoa) and the organization of a single specific signaling systems expressed by different cells in different tissues (i.e. the endocannabinoid system). In both the cases we have found that the networks follow a scale free and small world topology, likely due to the evolutionary advantage of robustness against random damages, fastness and specific of information processing, and easy navigability.

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The Endocannabinoid System: Role in Energy Regulation

Cited by 26 publications

References 77 publications

Relationships between dietary macronutrients and adult neurogenesis in the regulation of energy metabolism

Relationships between dietary macronutrients and adult neurogenesis in the regulation of energy metabolism

Polypharmacology Shakes Hands with Complex Aetiopathology

The biological networks in studying cell signal transduction complexity: The examples of sperm capacitation and of endocannabinoid system

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