True

doi:10.1038/sj/ijo/0801285

Cited by 13 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Hypocortisolism also seems more common in women than in men, although its presence has been reported in a subset of men with metabolic syndrome [40]. It has been suggested that hypocortisolism may be a protective response to reduce the damaging effects of the glucocorticoid response to daily hassles, albeit at the expense of symptoms such as high stress sensitivity, pain, and fatigue [41].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental Influences on Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Buffington

2009

Psychother Psychosom

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Medically unexplained (or ‘functional’) symptoms (MUS) are physical symptoms that prompt the sufferer to seek healthcare but remain unexplained after an appropriate medical evaluation. Examples of MUS also occur in veterinary medicine. For example, domestic cats suffer a syndrome comparable to interstitial cystitis, a chronic pelvic pain syndrome of humans. Method: Review of current evidence suggests the hypothesis that developmental factors may play a role in some cases of MUS. Maternal perception of a threatening environment may be transmitted to the fetus when hormones cross the placenta and affect fetal physiology, effectively ‘programming’ the fetal stress response system and associated behaviors toward enhanced vigilance. After birth, intense stress responses in the individual may result in similar vulnerability, which may be unmasked by subsequent stressors. Results: Epigenetic modulation of gene expression (EMGEX) appears to play a central role in creation of this ‘survival phenotype’. The recent development of techniques to identify the presence of EMGEX provides new tools to investigate these questions, and drugs and other interventions that may reverse EMGEX are also under active investigation. Conclusion: Viewing MUS from the perspective of underlying developmental influences involving EMGEX that affect function of a variety of organs based on familial (genetic and environmental) predispositions rather than from the traditional viewpoint of isolated organ-originating diseases has at least two important implications: it provides a parsimonious explanation for findings heretofore difficult to reconcile, and it opens whole new areas of investigation into causes and treatments for this class of disorders.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental Influences on Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Buffington

2009

Psychother Psychosom

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Mind/Body Medicine: An Introduction for the Generalist Physician and Nutritionist

Johnson

Kushner

2001

Nutrition in Clinical Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scientific evidence from psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is driving a paradigm shift from a model of biomedical medicine to a biopsychosocial/spiritual model of mind/body medicine. Mind/body medicine seeks to bring balance to all disparate aspects of mind, body, and spirit, thus strengthening patients' potential for total wellness. In this model, nutrition is viewed as one means of boosting the intrinsic capacity for preventing illness and attaining wellness. Accumulating evidence for links among stress, unhealthy lifestyles, and obesity support the use of mind/body therapies to counter negative effects of stress in the context of an overall approach to this condition. This paper discusses evidence and clinical applications for the healing potential of autogenic training, breathing practices, guided imagery, meditation, music therapy, and spirituality.

show abstract

A peripheral endocannabinoid mechanism contributes to glucocorticoid-mediated metabolic syndrome

Bowles¹,

Karatsoreos

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Glucocorticoids are known to promote the development of metabolic syndrome through the modulation of both feeding pathways and metabolic processes; however, the precise mechanisms of these effects are not well-understood. Recent evidence shows that glucocorticoids possess the ability to increase endocannabinoid signaling, which is known to regulate appetite, energy balance, and metabolic processes through both central and peripheral pathways. The aim of this study was to determine the role of endocannabinoid signaling in glucocorticoid-mediated obesity and metabolic syndrome. Using a mouse model of excess corticosterone exposure, we found that the ability of glucocorticoids to increase adiposity, weight gain, hormonal dysregulation, hepatic steatosis, and dyslipidemia was reduced or reversed in mice lacking the cannabinoid CB 1 receptor as well as mice treated with the global CB 1 receptor antagonist AM251. Similarly, a neutral, peripherally restricted CB 1 receptor antagonist (AM6545) was able to attenuate the metabolic phenotype caused by chronic corticosterone, suggesting a peripheral mechanism for these effects. Biochemical analyses showed that chronic excess glucocorticoid exposure produced a significant increase in hepatic and circulating levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide, whereas no effect was observed in the hypothalamus. To test the role of the liver, specific and exclusive deletion of hepatic CB 1 receptor resulted in a rescue of the dyslipidemic effects of glucocorticoid exposure, while not affecting the obesity phenotype or the elevations in insulin and leptin. Together, these data indicate that glucocorticoids recruit peripheral endocannabinoid signaling to promote metabolic dysregulation, with hepatic endocannabinoid signaling being especially important for changes in lipid metabolism.corticosterone | 2-AG | anandamide | obesity | liver O besity and associated cardiometabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, represent major contributors to morbidity and mortality (1, 2). Persistent exposure to environmental and psychological stress and the concomitant increase in circulating glucocorticoids (GCs; the primary stress hormones) are believed to be contributing factors to the epidemic of obesity and metabolic syndrome (3-6). Furthermore, patients receiving exogenous GCs subsequent to an organ transplant or for the treatment of inflammatory-related illnesses show several symptoms of the metabolic syndrome (7). Despite this relationship, the mechanisms by which GCs produce these changes in weight regulation and metabolism remain unclear.It has been clearly shown that GCs can mobilize the endocannabinoid (eCB) system, which is essential for many of the effects of GCs, including negative feedback regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, suppression of sexual behavior, and alterations in memory consolidation (8-11). eCBs are also potent regulators of feeding and metabolism, with effects that parallel those of GCs, such as increased feeding, reduced energy expenditure, fat accumulation ...

show abstract

True

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

Developmental Influences on Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Developmental Influences on Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Mind/Body Medicine: An Introduction for the Generalist Physician and Nutritionist

A peripheral endocannabinoid mechanism contributes to glucocorticoid-mediated metabolic syndrome

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About