The beneficial effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on diet induced obesity and impaired glucose control do not require Gpr120.

GPR120 (Ffar4) has been postulated to represent an important receptor mediating the improved metabolic profile seen upon ingestion of a diet enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). GPR120 is highly expressed in the digestive system, adipose tissue, lung and macrophages and also present in the endocrine pancreas. A new Gpr120 deficient mouse model on pure C57bl/6N background was developed to investigate the importance of the receptor for long-term feeding with a diet enriched with fish oil.

Chronic glucokinase activation reduces glycaemia and improves glucose tolerance in high-fat diet fed mice.

Glucokinase (GK) plays a key role in maintaining glucose homeostasis by promoting insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells and increasing hepatic glucose uptake. Here we investigate the effects of acute and chronic GK activation on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion in mice with diet-induced insulin resistance. In the acute study, a small molecule GK activator (GKA71) was administered to mice fed a high-fat diet for 8 weeks.

The metabotropic glutamate mGluR5 receptor agonist CHPG stimulates food intake.

The metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) has been suggested to modulate energy balance. For example, mGluR5 antagonists inhibit food intake in rodents and mGluR5 knockout mice resist diet-induced obesity. However, nonspecific effects can reduce food intake.

Childhood obesity in Australia remains a widespread health concern that warrants population-wide prevention programs.

Recent reports have suggested that the problem of childhood and adolescent obesity has been exaggerated in Australia, and that community-wide obesity prevention initiatives are not warranted; we argue that this is not an accurate reflection of the situation. Available data indicate that obesity affects 6%-8% of Australian schoolchildren, and that the proportion has continued to increase in recent years. Childhood and adolescent obesity is associated with a wide range of immediate health concerns, as well as increasing the risk of disease in adulthood.

Consumption of resistant starch decreases postprandial lipogenesis in white adipose tissue of the rat.

Chronic consumption of diets high in resistant starch (RS) leads to reduced fat cell size compared to diets high in digestible starch (DS) in rats and increases total and meal fat oxidation in humans. The aim of the present study was to examine the rate of lipogenesis in key lipogenic organs following a high RS or DS meal. Following an overnight fast, male Wistar rats ingested a meal with an RS content of 2% or 30% of total carbohydrate and were then administered an i.

The fatty acid oxidation pathway as a therapeutic target for insulin resistance.

It is recognised that obesity is a major driver for insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes in both adult and young members of diverse societies. Weight loss strategies involving diet, exercise and behaviour modification work only for the minority of highly motivated individuals, but fail completely in the vast majority; yet weight loss is associated with benefits in metabolic health. Why is it so difficult to maintain weight loss in the longer term? Here, the authors explore the possibility that energy partitioning, especially of lipids, plays a key role in both weight recidivism and, by association, insulin resistance.

Cooking attenuates the ability of high-amylose meals to reduce plasma insulin concentrations in rats.

Postprandial glycaemic control is important in the prevention and therapy of type 2 diabetes and related diseases. Agents that may reduce postprandial glycaemia and/or insulinaemia, such as consumption of high-amylose foods, are considered beneficial; however, little is known about the dose-response relationship and the effects of cooking. The aim of the present study was to define the dose-response curve for postprandial glycaemic and insulinaemic excursions following meals of different amylose content and to compare the dose-response curves for meals containing cooked and uncooked starches.

Dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids alter avian metabolism: molecular-species composition of breast-muscle phospholipids.

The effects of diets high in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; provided by fish oil), n-6 PUFA (sunflower oil) or in more-saturated fatty acids (tallow) on the distribution of subclasses of choline phospholipids (PC) and ethanolamine phospholipids (PE) from the breast muscle of broiler chickens were examined. Supplementation with the different fatty acids had no effect on the distribution of phospholipid subclasses. Feeding sunflower oil or tallow gave a molecular-species profile similar in both fatty acid subtype and proportion.

Dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids alter avian metabolism: metabolism and abdominal fat deposition.

The effects of dietary saturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) of the n-3 and n-6 series on weight gain, body composition and substrate oxidation were investigated in broiler chickens. At 3 weeks of age three groups of chickens (n 30; ten birds per group) were fed the fat-enriched experimental diets for 5 weeks. These diets were isonitrogenous, isoenergetic and contained 208 g protein/kg and 80 g edible tallow, fish oil or sunflower oil/kg; the dietary fatty acid profiles were thus dominated by saturated fatty acids, n-3 PUFA or n-6 PUFA respectively.