Exenatide modulates visual cortex responses.

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that metabolism affects brain physiology. Here, we examine the effect of GLP-1 on simple visual-evoked functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) responses in cortical areas.

Methods: Lean (n = 10) and nondiabetic obese (n = 10) subjects received exenatide (a GLP-1 agonist) or saline infusion, and fMRI responses to visual stimuli (food and nonfood images) were recorded.

Discordance Between Central (Brain) and Pancreatic Action of Exenatide in Lean and Obese Subjects.

Objective: This study examined the effect of exenatide on brain activity measured by functional (f)MRI and on insulin secretion in lean and obese normal-glucose-tolerant individuals.

Research Design And Methods: The brain fMRI signal in response to high-calorie-content food pictures was measured with and without intravenous exenatide infusion in 10 lean and 10 obese healthy volunteers. Insulin secretion was measured with a two-step (+100 and +200 mg/dL) hyperglycemic clamp with exenatide and with saline infusion.

Neural bases of food perception: coordinate-based meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies in multiple modalities.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the results of the three food-cue paradigms most commonly used for functional neuroimaging studies to determine: i) commonalities and differences in the neural response patterns by paradigm and ii) the relative robustness and reliability of responses to each paradigm.

Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies using standardized stereotactic coordinates to report brain responses to food cues were identified using online databases. Studies were grouped by food-cue modality as: i) tastes (8 studies); ii) odors (8 studies); and, iii) images (11 studies).

Expression of hsp70, hsp100 and ubiquitin in Aloe barbadensis Miller under direct heat stress and under temperature acclimation conditions.

KEY MESSAGE : The study determined the tolerance of Aloe vera to high temperature, focusing on the expression of hsp70 , hsp100 and ubiquitin genes. These were highly expressed in plants acclimated at 35 °C prior to a heat shock of 45 °C. Aloe barbadensis Miller (Aloe vera), a CAM plant, was introduced into Chile in the semiarid IV and III Regions, which has summer diurnal temperature fluctuations of 25 to 40 °C and annual precipitation of 40 mm (dry years) to 170 mm (rainy years).