Does Obesity Have The Characteristics Of Addiction?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,832.00
Summary
The number of overweight or obese people in Australia has increased dramatically in recent years, increasing disease risk. The brain responds to palatable food in ways similar to the response to drugs of addiction, and this may explain why people find it hard to resist palatable food. Our work will explore whether obesity in rats has the characteristics of addiction by examining bingeing, craving, withdrawal and brain circuits in animals chronically exposed to palatable food.
Defining Reciprocal Neural Circuits That Regulate Appetite And Memory
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$341,935.00
Summary
How we remember meals influences how much we eat at later time points. This kind of memory likely comes from both the traditional brain areas associated with memory formation, and from areas associated with regulating appetite. How these two brain regions work together to help animals remember what they ate, where they found it, and whether they liked it is not known. This project investigates how these memories are formed and how they are used by animals to make decisions about future meals.
Carnitine Acetyltransferase (CrAT) Regulates Appetite And Body Weight Through The Melanocortin System
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$547,087.00
Summary
Carnitine metabolism in peripheral tissues, such as muscle, maintains appropriate cellular metabolism and function. Little is known about carnitine metabolism in specific populations of brain cells regulate food intake and appetite. This project aims to understand how carnitine metabolism affect brain cells that regulate food intake and body weight.
Neural Sensing Of Hunger Links Homeostatic And Reward Pathways
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$444,366.00
Summary
Cells in the brain that respond to signals of hunger also increase motivation to obtain food and there reward value of food. This proposal examines how these hunger cells, called AgRP cells, sense changes in metabolic state in order to increase motivation and food reward pathways. We believe that understanding this process may help us understand why obese individuals overeat foods high in sugar and fat.
Obesity is a major global public health concern and there is a desperate need to identify new targets to treat obesity. By targeting the lesser investigated CART pathway and identifying the elusive CART receptor this could make a significant inroad to the understanding of the causes of appetite control and the development of obesity.
Carnitine Palmitoyl Transferase 1 In POMC Neurons Controls Glucose Homeostasis And Body Weight
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$474,499.00
Summary
The brain plays a critical role in body weight gain by balancing appetite-inducing and appetite-suppressing signals. An imbalance in this process causes obesity, promotes diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this research is to identify how appetite-suppressing brain signals are maintained as a method to prevent obesity progression.
Characterisation Of Erusiolin - A New Peptide Hormone
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$547,202.00
Summary
Obesity and type II diabetes are epidemic diseases in Australia. Gut-derived hormones are key mediators in these diseases, due to their role in regulating appetite and blood glucose levels. Therapeutic modulation of these hormones also provides significant benefits for patients. In this proposal, we will determine the metabolic functions, such as appetite control, for a previously uncharacterised hormone, which is an unexplored therapeutic target for obesity and diabetes.
Central Ghrelin Regulates Peripheral Glucose Metabolism
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$339,938.00
Summary
Recent evidence shows ghrelin is a key anti-starvation hormone that increases glucose production in order to maintain appropriate blood glucose concentrations. How ghrelin acts in the brain to control blood glucose concentrations remains unknown and will be the focus of this project. This project is relevant to disorders such as anorexia nervosa and will help us understand blood glucose regulation during conditions of food scarcity.