Publications by authors named "Christina N Boyle"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated how different diets (low-fat vs. high-fat/sucrose) affected weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery in rats.
  • Rats fed a high-fat/sucrose diet lost more weight post-surgery compared to those on a low-fat diet, primarily due to lower energy intake and initial body weight differences.
  • Interestingly, continuing the high-fat/sucrose diet did not hinder recovery from surgery, even though low-fat dieting led to signs of malaise following RYGB.
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Amylin is released by pancreatic beta-cells in response to a meal and its major soluble mature form (37 amino acid-peptide) produces its biological effects by activating amylin receptors. Amylin is derived from larger propeptides that are processed within the synthesizing beta-cell. There are suggestions that a partially processed form, pro-amylin(1-48) is also secreted.

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Article Synopsis
  • GIPR and GLP-1R receptor agonists improve blood sugar control and aid in weight loss, and both types of receptors are present in the brain region that regulates these processes.
  • Recent research has highlighted that receptor activity-modifying proteins (RAMPs) influence how these receptors function, particularly in relation to the glucagon receptor family, which includes GIPR and GLP-1R.
  • A study using mice lacking RAMP1 and RAMP3 showed that while these receptors alone had minimal effect on weight loss, their combined use significantly decreased body weight, particularly in the RAMP-deficient mice, suggesting RAMPs are important for effective receptor function.
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Background: Bariatric surgery alters food preferences in rats and reportedly decreases desire to consume high-fat high-sugar food in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate whether early post-operative exposure to high-fat food could increase body weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) by triggering fat avoidance.

Methods: Male Wistar rats underwent either RYGB ( = 15) or sham-operations ( = 16).

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Amylin (also called islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP)) is a pancreatic beta-cell hormone that is co-secreted with insulin in response to nutrient stimuli. The last 35 years of intensive research have shown that amylin exerts important physiological effects on metabolic control. Most importantly, amylin is a physiological control of meal-ending satiation, and it limits the rate of gastric emptying and reduces the secretion of pancreatic glucagon, in particular in postprandial states.

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It is estimated that 30% of pregnant women worldwide are overweight or obese, leading to adverse health effects for both mother and child. Women with obesity during pregnancy are at higher risk for developing both metabolic and mental disorders, such as diabetes and depression. Numerous studies have used rodent models of maternal obesity to understand its consequences on the offspring, yet characterization of changes in the dams is rare, and most rodent models rely solely on a high fat diet to induce maternal obesity, without regarding genetic propensity for obesity.

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Dysregulated energy metabolism is a major contributor to a multitude of pathologies, including obesity and diabetes. Understanding the regulation of metabolic homeostasis is of utmost importance for the identification of therapeutic targets for the treatment of metabolically driven diseases. We previously identified the deubiquitinase OTUB1 as substrate for the cellular oxygen sensor factor-inhibiting HIF (FIH) with regulatory effects on cellular energy metabolism, but the physiological relevance of OTUB1 is unclear.

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Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery has been proven successful in weight loss and improvement of co-morbidities associated with obesity. Chronic complications such as malabsorption of micronutrients in up to 50% of patients underline the need for additional therapeutic approaches. We investigated systemic RYGB surgery effects in a liquid sucrose diet-induced rat obesity model.

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The ability of amylin to inhibit gastric emptying and glucagon secretion in rats is reduced under hypoglycemic conditions. These effects are considered part of a fail-safe mechanism that prevents amylin from further decreasing nutrient supply when blood glucose levels are low. Because these actions and amylin-induced satiation are mediated by the area postrema (AP), it is plausible that these phenomena are based on the co-sensitivity of AP neurons to amylin and glucose.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic stress negatively affects energy status and is linked to symptoms of depression, such as weight loss and lower motivation for rewards.
  • In a study involving mice, those under chronic social stress (CSS) maintained lower body weight despite equal food intake and energy expenditure compared to control mice, with changes in fat tissue and hormone levels indicative of altered energy needs.
  • CSS mice showed increased levels of hunger hormone ghrelin and decreased levels of satiety hormone leptin, but surprisingly, exhibited reduced brain glucose uptake, which may contribute to their diminished motivation for rewarding stimuli like sweet foods.
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic progressive disease characterized by insulin resistance and insufficient insulin secretion to maintain normoglycemia. The majority of T2DM patients bear amyloid deposits mainly composed of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) in their pancreatic islets. These-originally β-cell secretory products-extracellular aggregates are cytotoxic for insulin-producing β-cells and are associated with β-cell loss and inflammation in T2DM advanced stages.

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Amylin is a pancreatic peptide, which acts as a key controller of food intake and energy balance and predominately binds to three receptors (AMY 1-3). AMY 1-3 are composed of a calcitonin core receptor (CTR) and associated receptor-activity modifying proteins (RAMPs) 1-3. Using RAMP1, RAMP3 and RAMP1/3 global KO mice, this study aimed to determine whether the absence of one or two RAMP subunits affects food intake, glucose homeostasis and metabolism.

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Amylin is co-secreted with insulin by pancreatic β-cells in response to a meal and produced by neurons in discrete hypothalamic brain areas. Leptin is proportionally secreted by the adipose tissue. Both hormones control food intake and energy homeostasis post-weaning in rodents.

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Leptin receptor (LepR) signaling in neurons of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH), specifically those expressing steroidogenic factor-1 (SF1), have been proposed to play a key role in controlling energy balance. By crossing LepR-silenced (LepR) mice with those expressing SF1-Cre, we unsilenced native LepR specifically in the VMH and tested whether SF1 neurons in the VMH are critical mediators of leptin's effect on energy homeostasis. LepR × SF1-Cre [knockout (KO)/Tg+] mice were metabolically phenotyped and compared with littermate controls that either expressed or were deficient in LepRs.

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Background/objectives: The incidence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) has rapidly increased worldwide. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) achieves long-term weight loss and improves MetS-associated comorbidities. Using a mouse model with a humanized lipoprotein metabolism, we elucidated whether improvements in lipid and glucose metabolism after RYGB surgery are body weight loss-dependent or not.

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The pancreatic hormone amylin is released from beta cells following nutrient ingestion and contributes to the control of body weight and glucose homeostasis. Amylin reduces food intake by activating neurons in the area postrema (AP). Amylin was also shown to synergize with the adipokine leptin, with combination therapy producing greater weight loss and food intake reduction than either hormone alone.

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AP102 is a di-iodinated octapeptide somatostatin agonist (SSA) designed to treat acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors. A sensitive and selective method was validated for the quantification of AP102 in plasma following the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. Sample preparation was performed using solid-phase extraction microplates.

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Amylin phosphorylates ERK (p-ERK) in the area postrema to reduce eating and synergizes with leptin to phosphorylate STAT3 in the arcuate (ARC) and ventromedial (VMN) hypothalamic nuclei to reduce food intake and body weight. The current studies assessed potential amylin and amylin-leptin ARC/VMN interactions on ERK signaling and their roles in postnatal hypothalamic pathway development. In amylin knockout mice, the density of agouti-related protein (AgRP)-immunoreactive (IR) fibers in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) was increased, while the density of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (αMSH) fibers was decreased.

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The area postrema (AP) and the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) are important hindbrain centers involved in the control of energy homeostasis. The AP mediates the anorectic action and the inhibitory effect on gastric emptying induced by the pancreatic hormone amylin. Amylin's target cells in the AP project to the NTS, an integrative relay center for enteroceptive signals.

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Background: Amylin is a pancreatic β-cell hormone that produces effects in several different organ systems. One of its best-characterized effects is the reduction in eating and body weight seen in preclinical and clinical studies. Amylin activates specific receptors, a portion of which it shares with calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).

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Purpose: Somatostatin analogs are widely used to treat conditions associated with hormonal hypersecretion such as acromegaly and metastatic neuroendocrine tumors. First generation somatostatin analogs, such as octreotide and lanreotide, have high affinity for somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (SSTR2), but have incomplete efficacy in many patients. Pasireotide targets multiple SSTRs, having the highest affinity for SSTR5, but causes hyperglycemia and diabetes mellitus in preclinical and clinical studies.

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The pancreatic hormone amylin and its agonist salmon calcitonin (sCT) act via the area postrema (AP) and the lateral parabrachial nucleus (PBN) to reduce food intake. Investigations of amylin and sCT signaling in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) suggest that the eating inhibitory effect of amylin is, in part, mediated through the mesolimbic 'reward' pathway. Indeed, administration of the sCT directly to the VTA decreased phasic dopamine release (DA) in the NAc.

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Objective: Adult neurogenesis in the subgranular zone and subventricular zone is generally accepted, but its existence in other brain areas is still controversial. Circumventricular organs, such as the area postrema (AP) have recently been described as potential neurogenic niches in the adult brain. The AP is the major site of action of the satiating hormone amylin.

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Selectively bred diet-induced obese (DIO) rats become obese on a high-fat diet and are leptin resistant before becoming obese. Compared with diet-resistant (DR) neonates, DIO neonates have impaired leptin-dependent arcuate (ARC) neuropeptide Y/agouti-related peptide (NPY/AgRP) and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH; from proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons) axon outgrowth to the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Using phosphorylation of STAT3 (pSTAT3) as a surrogate, we show that reduced DIO ARC leptin signaling develops by postnatal day 7 (P7) and is reduced within POMC but not NPY/AgRP neurons.

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