| 1. |
- Holmberg, Ellinor, 1975-
(författare)
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Allopregnanolone effects on food intake and weight gain
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background Obesity is currently one of the major causes of ill health and it is clear that overeatingis the cause of obesity. However, the actions of many endogenous factors that contribute to overeating are still not well understood. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic transmission has been shown to be of great importance for food intake regulation. The progesterone metabolite allopregnanolone is a potent positive GABAA receptor modulating steroid (GAMS) and in humans, elevated allopregnanolone levels have been suggested to be involved in increased food intake, and also with overweight and obesity. GABAA receptors that express the α2 and α3 subunits are proposed to be the main subtypes involved in food intake regulation. Therefore, the aims of the work in this thesis were to further investigate the effect of allopregnanolone on food intake, feeding behaviour, possible effects on weight gain and also to characterize a possible antagonist at α2β3γ2and α3β3γ2 GABAA receptors.Methods Allopregnanolone effects on food intake of different food items were recorded in male Wistar rats. Feeding patterns were analyzed. Food preference tests were also conducted and rats were repeatedly exposed to allopregnanolone under different feeding conditions to elucidate possible effects on body weight gain. To deeper investigate GABAA receptor subtypes suggested to be involved in food intake regulation, electrophysiological whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were performed to identify the specificity of the GAMS antagonist UC1020, at human α2β3γ2 and α3β3γ2 GABAA receptors expressed in HEK293-cells.Results Allopregnanolone increased the intake of standard chow, cookies and a high fat diet in male Wistar rats. Preferentially, allopregnanolone increased the rats´intake of the more calorie dense food type. Allopregnanolone reduced feeding latency and prolonged feeding duration. The increased chow intake induced by allopregnanolone was more pronounced at the beginning of the rats´ active period compared to the inactive. Repeated allopregnanolone administration during 5 consecutive days led to an increased body weight gain, more evident in schedule fed rats on a high fat diet. Both obesity prone and obesity resistant rats gained significantly more weight with repeated allopregnanolone exposure and the increased body weight gain correlated with increased food intake. The compound UC1020 was a potent antagonist of GAMS-enhanced GABA evoked currents at human α3β3γ2 GABAA receptors, whereas it had no effect at α2β3γ2 GABAA receptors.Conclusions Our findings indicate that allopregnanolone induced hyperphagia may be one of the endogenous factors involved in weight gain, especially when the diet is energy-rich. The compound UC1020 may prove useful for investigating the involvement of the α2 and α3 GABAA receptor subtypes in GAMS-induced hyperphagia.
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| 2. |
- Holmberg, Ellinor, et al.
(författare)
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Allopregnanolone induces a diurnally dependent hyperphagic effect and alters feeding latency and duration in male Wistar rats
- 2013
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Ingår i: Acta Physiologica. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1748-1708 .- 1748-1716. ; 208:4, s. 400-409
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic transmission from the hypothalamus is essential for normal feeding regulation, and hyperphagia can be induced by local application of GABA(A)-receptor agonists to different feeding-associated brain areas. The food intake in rats varies diurnally and that may influence the effect of GABA(A)-receptor active compounds. The progesterone metabolite allopregnanolone is a highly potent endogenous positive modulator of the GABA(A) receptor. Therefore, it is easy to envisage that allopregnanolone would have a hyperphagic effect, but earlier reports in rat have given ambiguous results. However, a contributing factor for the discrepancy may be the time point of the diurnal cycle in which the experiments were performed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of allopregnanolone on intake of standard chow in male Wistar rats at different time points of the day.Methods: Chow intake was measured after acute administration of allopregnanolone, and feeding behaviour was analysed to detect meal patterns.Results: We found that allopregnanolone increased chow intake by up to four times in the dark part of the 24-h cycle. The rats ate significantly more, and the effect of allopregnanolone was more prominent in the active (dark) compared with the inactive (light) period. Allopregnanolone also reduced feeding latency and prolonged the meal duration compared with vehicle.Conclusion: Allopregnanolone seems to act at several levels of feeding regulation, that is, to initiate feeding and to prolong the duration of a meal, thereby increasing the meal size, especially in the dark period of the 24-h cycle.
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| 3. |
- Holmberg, Ellinor, et al.
(författare)
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Allopregnanolone involvement in feeding regulation, overeating and obesity
- 2018
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Ingår i: Frontiers in neuroendocrinology (Print). - : Academic Press. - 0091-3022 .- 1095-6808. ; 48, s. 70-77
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Obesity is strongly associated with ill health, primarily caused by consumption of excessive calories, and promoted (inter alia) by gamma-amino-butyric-acid (GABA) stimulating food intake by activating GABA(A) receptors (primarily with alpha 3 and alpha 2 subunits) in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and paraventricular nucleus. Allopregnanolone is a potent positive GABAA receptor modulating steroid (GAMS). As reviewed here, elevated allopregnanolone levels are associated with increases in food intake, preferences for energy-rich food, and obesity in humans and other mammals. In women with polycystic ovarian disease, high serum allopregnanolone concentrations are linked to uncontrolled eating, and perturbed sensitivity to allopregnanolone. Increases in weight during pregnancy also correlate with increases in allopregnanolone levels. Moreover, Prader-Willis syndrome is associated with massive overeating, absence of a GABA(A) receptor (with compensatory > 12-, > 5- and > 1.5-fold increases in alpha 4, gamma 2, and alpha 1, alpha 3 subunits), and increases in the alpha 4, beta x, delta receptor subtype, which is highly sensitive to allopregnanolone. GABA and positive GABA-A receptor modulating steroids like allopregnanolone stimulates food intake and weight gain.
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| 4. |
- Holmberg, Ellinor, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Allopregnanolone preferentially induces energy-rich food intake in male Wistar rats
- 2014
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Ingår i: Physiological Reports. - : Wiley Periodicals Inc.. - 2051-817X. ; 2:12, s. e12190-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Obesity is an increasing problem and identification of the driving forces for overeating of energy-rich food is important. Previous studies show that the stress and sex steroid allopregnanolone has a hyperphagic effect on both bland food and palatable food. If allopregnanolone induces a preference for more palatable or for more energy-rich food is not known. The aim of this study was to elucidate the influence of allopregnanolone on food preference. Male Wistar rats were subjected to two different food preference tests: a choice between standard chow and cookies (which have a higher energy content and also are more palatable than chow), and a choice between a low caloric sucrose solution and standard chow (which has a higher energy content and is less palatable than sucrose). Food intake was measured for 1 h after acute subcutaneous injections of allopregnanolone. In the choice between cookies and chow allopregnanolone significantly increased only the intake of cookies.When the standard chow was the item present with the highest caloric load, the chow intake was increased and allopregnanolone had no effect on intake of the 10% sucrose solution. The increased energy intakes induced by the high allopregnanolone dose compared to vehicle were very similar in the two tests,120% increase for cookies and 150% increase for chow. It appears that in allopregnanolone-induced hyperphagia, rats choose the food with the highest energy content regardless of its palatability.
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| 5. |
- Holmberg, Ellinor, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Repeated allopregnanolone exposure induces weight gain in schedule fed rats on high fat diet
- 2015
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Ingår i: Physiology and Behavior. - : Elsevier. - 0031-9384 .- 1873-507X. ; 140, s. 1-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ingestion of energy rich high fat diets is one of the determining factors associated with the obesity epidemic. Therefore, much can be learned from studies of obesity-related substances given to animals fed a high fat diet.The progesterone metabolite allopregnanolone is a potent positive modulator of the gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA)A-receptor, and both allopregnanolone and GABA have been implicated in evoking hyperphagia. In this study, food intake and body weight gain were investigated during repeated allopregnanolone exposure. Male Wistar rats were studied when fed chow ad libitum, with chow access for 4h per day or with 45% high fat pellets for 4 h per day. Rats on the high fat diet were separated into obesity prone and obesity resistant individuals.Subcutaneous injections of allopregnanolone were given once daily overfive consecutive days. Repeated exposure to allopregnanolone lead to increased weight gain, significantly so in schedule fed rats on a high fat diet. The increased weight gain was correlated to an increased energy intake. Both obesity resistant and obesityprone rats responded to allopregnanolone with increased weight gain. Obesity resistant rats treated with allopregnanolone increased their energy intake and ate as much as vehicle treated obesity prone rats. Their weight gain was also increased to the level of obesity prone rats injected with just the vehicle carrier oil. Thus, it appears that allopregnanolone may be one of the endogenous factors involved in weight gain, especiallywhen the diet is rich in fat.
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| 6. |
- Löfgren, Magnus, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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The additive effect of allopregnanolone on ghrelin's orexigenic effect in rats
- 2019
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Ingår i: Neuropeptides. - : Elsevier BV. - 0143-4179 .- 1532-2785. ; 76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The progesterone metabolite, allopregnanolone (AlloP), is a GABA(A) receptor modulating steroid and is known to have orexigenic and pro-obesity effects. The neurobiological mechanisms underpinning these effects are most likely due to enhanced GABAergic signaling in the lateral arcuate nucleus (ARC) and medial paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus. Inspired by the finding that GABAergic signaling is also important for the orexigenic effects of the circulating hormone, ghrelin, we sought to determine the extent to which AlloP (one of the most potent endogenous GABA(A)-receptor modulators) operates alongside ghrelin to enhance food intake. Male rats with ad libitum access to standard chow were injected intravenously with AlloP and/or ghrelin, alone or in combination. The intake of the standard chow was greater after AlloP 1 mg/kg together with ghrelin 30 mu g/kg than with 30 mu g/kg ghrelin alone. Food intake was also increased for the combined treatment of AlloP 0.5 mg/kg + ghrelin 10 mu g/kg, AlloP 1 mg/kg + ghrelin 10 mu g/kg, and AlloP 0.5 mg/kg + ghrelin 30 mu g/kg. There was no significant difference in food intake between the two ghrelin doses or between the two doses of AlloP and the vehicle. In electrophysiological studies, physiologically relevant concentrations of AlloP prolonged the current decay time of spontaneous inhibitory post-synaptic current of dissociated cells of the ARC and PVN. We conclude that AlloP enhances the hyperphagic effect of ghrelin, findings of potential relevance for the hyperphagia associated with the luteal phase of the reproductive cycle.
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| 7. |
- Moberg, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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De unga gör helt rätt när de stämmer staten
- 2022
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Ingår i: Aftonbladet. - 1103-9000.
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- 1 620 forskare och lärare i forskarvärlden: Vi ställer oss bakom Auroras klimatkrav
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