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Dietary Impact on Neural and Endocrine Systems Relevant to Energy Balance

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2021) | Viewed by 9503

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, MN 55108, USA
Interests: regulation of food intake; neuropeptide; neural system; endocrine system

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Guest Editor
1. FSEN, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
2. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, CFANS, and Integrative Biology and Physiology, Medical School, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
Interests: neural and neuroendocrine control of satiation; interplay between reward- and energy-related signaling in the regulation of food intake; oxytocin as a molecule that ties feeding behavior to a broad physiological state of the organism
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Animals and humans eat for many reasons, including energy, reward, stress, and specific tastes. Neuroregulators control all aspects of feeding behaviour, ranging from foraging to hoarding to ingestion and finally to the cessation of intake. In this Special Issue of Nutrients, we will focus on how various diets (from single macronutrient tastants to complex foods that differ in flavour and energy density) alter regulatory circuitry. We will discuss which regulators initiate ingestion and which macronutrients may be targeted. We will also review control of the meal size and cessation of the meal. The role of the gastrointestinal tract, the pancreas, and the signalling pathways from the vagus to the hindbrain to the upstream parts of the brain will be considered.   

Prof. Dr. Allen Levine
Dr. Pawel K. Olszewski
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • neuroregulators
  • food intake
  • macronutrients
  • reward
  • hunger
  • energy metabolism

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 14589 KiB  
Article
Chronic Intermittent Sucrose Consumption Facilitates the Ability to Discriminate Opioid Receptor Blockade with Naltrexone in Rats
by David C. Jewett, Donisha S. N. K. Liyanagamage, Mark A. Vanden Avond, Molly A. B. Anderson, Kyleigh A. Twaroski, Morgan A. Marek, Kimberly F. James, Tapasya Pal, Anica Klockars, Pawel K. Olszewski and Allen S. Levine
Nutrients 2022, 14(5), 926; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14050926 - 22 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2123
Abstract
The opioid antagonist naltrexone (NTX) decreases intake of preferred diets in rats at very low doses relative to doses needed to decrease intake of “bland” laboratory chow. In the absence of an opioid agonist, NTX is not discriminable using operant techniques. In the [...] Read more.
The opioid antagonist naltrexone (NTX) decreases intake of preferred diets in rats at very low doses relative to doses needed to decrease intake of “bland” laboratory chow. In the absence of an opioid agonist, NTX is not discriminable using operant techniques. In the current study, we found that rats given intermittent access to a 25% sucrose solution learned to discriminate between various naltrexone doses and saline. None of the rats given only water learned to discriminate between naltrexone and saline. When access to the sucrose solution was discontinued for 14 days, the rats lost the ability to discriminate between NTX and saline. We also studied the changes of c-Fos IR in selected brain regions in rats treated with saline versus NTX that were drinking water or 25% sucrose. An injection of NTX or saline resulted in a significant drug, diet, and interaction effect in various brain regions associated with feeding behavior, particularly the amygdala, accumbens, and hypothalamic sites. Thus, we found that ingestion of a sucrose solution results in the ability of rats to reliably discriminate naltrexone administration. In addition, sucrose and naltrexone altered c-Fos IR in an interactive fashion in brain regions known to be involved in ingestion behavior. Full article
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13 pages, 274 KiB  
Article
Relationship between Seasonal Changes in Food Intake and Energy Metabolism, Physical Activity, and Body Composition in Young Japanese Women
by Noriko Tanaka, Toyoko Okuda, Hisae Shinohara, Rie Shimonaka Yamasaki, Naomi Hirano, Jangmi Kang, Manami Ogawa and Nao Nishioka Nishi
Nutrients 2022, 14(3), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030506 - 24 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3823
Abstract
We investigated seasonal changes in food intake, energy metabolism, and physical activity (PA) and explored their associations with body composition. In total, 28 women aged 20–23 years in the Kansai area of Japan participated in this year-long study spanning the winter, spring, and [...] Read more.
We investigated seasonal changes in food intake, energy metabolism, and physical activity (PA) and explored their associations with body composition. In total, 28 women aged 20–23 years in the Kansai area of Japan participated in this year-long study spanning the winter, spring, and summer seasons. A dietary investigation was performed using the weight recording method, and the amount of histidine in the diet, which may be related to the regulation of energy intake, was calculated. Resting metabolic rate (RMR), body composition, and PA were measured using indirect calorimetry, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and uniaxial accelerometry, respectively. The results showed that energy intake was highest in winter, decreased significantly with increasing temperature, and decreased by 25% in summer. As the intake of histidine in the diet did not increase in summer, it did not seem to be involved in the suppression of energy intake. RMR was highest in winter and decreased significantly in summer by 20%. The amount of PA was low in winter, increased significantly in the spring, and decreased again in summer. Body weight increased in winter, with an accumulation of fat in the trunk and arms, and decreased in summer, with a reduction in the amount of fat. Greater energy intake and less PA in winter induced an increment in body weight despite the increase in RMR. There were no significant changes in lean body mass between the seasons; however, the muscle weight of the lower limbs increased significantly in spring and in summer compared with that in winter (p < 0.001). Thus, seasonal changes in food intake, energy metabolism, and PA occur, with resultant changes in the body composition under comfortable air-conditioned environments. Full article
18 pages, 3513 KiB  
Article
The Type of Fat in the Diet Influences Regulatory Aminopeptidases of the Renin-Angiotensin System and Stress in the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis in Adult Wistar Rats
by Germán Domínguez-Vías, Ana Belén Segarra, Manuel Ramírez-Sánchez and Isabel Prieto
Nutrients 2021, 13(11), 3939; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13113939 - 4 Nov 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2972
Abstract
(1) Background: Prolonged feeding with a high-fat diet (HFD) acts as a stressor by activating the functions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal gland (HPA) stress axis, accompanied of hypertension by inducing the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Angiotensinases enzymes are regulatory aminopeptidases of angiotensin metabolism, which together with [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Prolonged feeding with a high-fat diet (HFD) acts as a stressor by activating the functions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal gland (HPA) stress axis, accompanied of hypertension by inducing the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Angiotensinases enzymes are regulatory aminopeptidases of angiotensin metabolism, which together with the dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV), pyroglutamyl- and tyrosyl-aminopeptidase (pGluAP, TyrAP), participate in cognitive, stress, metabolic and cardiovascular functions. These functions appear to be modulated by the type of fat used in the diet. (2) Methods: To analyze a possible coordinated response of aminopeptidases, their activities were simultaneously determined in the hypothalamus, adenohypophysis and adrenal gland of adult male rats fed diets enriched with monounsaturated (standard diet (S diet) supplemented with 20% virgin olive oil; VOO diet) or saturated fatty acids (diet S supplemented with 20% butter and 0.1% cholesterol; Bch diet). Aminopeptidase activities were measured by fluorimetry using 2-Naphthylamine as substrates. (3) Results: the hypothalamus did not show differences in any of the experimental diets. In the pituitary, the Bch diet stimulated the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) by increasing certain angiotensinase activities (alanyl-, arginyl- and cystinyl-aminopeptidase) with respect to the S and VOO diets. DPP-IV activity was increased with the Bch diet, and TyrAP activity decrease with the VOO diet, having both a crucial role on stress and eating behavior. In the adrenal gland, both HFDs showed an increase in angiotensinase aspartyl-aminopeptidase. The interrelation of angiotensinases activities in the tissues were depending on the type of diet. In addition, correlations were shown between angiotensinases and aminopeptidases that regulate stress and eating behavior. (4) Conclusions: Taken together, these results support that the source of fat in the diet affects several peptidases activities in the HPA axis, which could be related to alterations in RAS, stress and feeding behavior. Full article
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