Sex differences in the physiology of eating
01 Dec 2013-American Journal of Physiology-regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (American Physiological Society)-Vol. 305, Iss: 11
TL;DR: The variety and physiological importance of what has been learned so far warrant intensifying basic, translational, and clinical research on sex differences in eating.
Abstract: Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis function fundamentally affects the physiology of eating. We review sex differences in the physiological and pathophysiological controls of amounts eaten in rats, mice, monkeys, and humans. These controls result from interactions among genetic effects, organizational effects of reproductive hormones (i.e., permanent early developmental effects), and activational effects of these hormones (i.e., effects dependent on hormone levels). Male-female sex differences in the physiology of eating involve both organizational and activational effects of androgens and estrogens. An activational effect of estrogens decreases eating 1) during the periovulatory period of the ovarian cycle in rats, mice, monkeys, and women and 2) tonically between puberty and reproductive senescence or ovariectomy in rats and monkeys, sometimes in mice, and possibly in women. Estrogens acting on estrogen receptor-α (ERα) in the caudal medial nucleus of the solitary tract appear to mediate these effects in rats. Androgens, prolactin, and other reproductive hormones also affect eating in rats. Sex differences in eating are mediated by alterations in orosensory capacity and hedonics, gastric mechanoreception, ghrelin, CCK, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucagon, insulin, amylin, apolipoprotein A-IV, fatty-acid oxidation, and leptin. The control of eating by central neurochemical signaling via serotonin, MSH, neuropeptide Y, Agouti-related peptide (AgRP), melanin-concentrating hormone, and dopamine is modulated by HPG function. Finally, sex differences in the physiology of eating may contribute to human obesity, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating. The variety and physiological importance of what has been learned so far warrant intensifying basic, translational, and clinical research on sex differences in eating.
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National Institutes of Health1, University of California, Irvine2, University of Louisville3, Sheba Medical Center4, Istituto Superiore di Sanità5, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill6, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche7, University of Parma8, University of Turin9, University of Chicago10, University of Massachusetts Amherst11, University of Missouri12
TL;DR: This review will examine changes to the incidence of obesity, T2D and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the contribution of genetics to these disorders and describe the role of the endocrine system in these metabolic disorders.
599 citations
TL;DR: New and novel ways sex hormones influence body adiposity and the metabolic syndrome are highlighted in a review of sexual dimorphisms.
580 citations
Cites background from "Sex differences in the physiology o..."
...Clegg PII: S0303-7207(14)00421-3 DOI: http://dx....
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...Accepted Manuscript Title: The sexual dimorphism of obesity Author: Biff F. Palmer, Deborah J. Clegg PII: S0303-7207(14)00421-3 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2014.11.029 Reference: MCE 8992 To appear in: Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Received date: 29-10-2014 Accepted date: 16-11-2014 Please cite this article as: Biff F. Palmer, Deborah J. Clegg, The sexual dimorphism of obesity, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology (2015), http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2014.11.029....
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...Mol Cell Endocrinol 2014; S0303-7207 [Epub ahead of print]....
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...estradiol secretion, and consuming the most during estrus when estradiol levels are lower indicating physiologic estradiol levels are negatively correlated with food intake (13,14)....
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TL;DR: Mice created with a neuron-specific disruption of the IR gene showed increased food intake, and both male and female mice developed diet-sensitive obesity with increases in body fat and plasma leptin levels, mild insulin resistance, elevated plasma insulin levels, and hypertriglyceridemia.
Abstract: Insulin receptors (IRs) and insulin signaling proteins are widely distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS). To study the physiological role of insulin signaling in the brain, we created mice with a neuron-specific disruption of the IR gene (NIRKO mice). Inactivation of the IR had no impact on brain development or neuronal survival. However, female NIRKO mice showed increased food intake, and both male and female mice developed diet-sensitive obesity with increases in body fat and plasma leptin levels, mild insulin resistance, elevated plasma insulin levels, and hypertriglyceridemia. NIRKO mice also exhibited impaired spermatogenesis and ovarian follicle maturation because of hypothalamic dysregulation of luteinizing hormone. Thus, IR signaling in the CNS plays an important role in regulation of energy disposal, fuel metabolism, and reproduction.
576 citations
TL;DR: Gastric emptying, the detection of specific digestive products by small intestinal enteroendocrine cells, and synergistic interactions among different GI loci all contribute to the secretion of ghrelin, CCK, GLP-1, and PYY(3-36).
Abstract: The efficacy of Roux-en-Y gastric-bypass (RYGB) and other bariatric surgeries in the management of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus and novel developments in gastrointestinal (GI) endocrinology have renewed interest in the roles of GI hormones in the control of eating, meal-related glycemia, and obesity. Here we review the nutrient-sensing mechanisms that control the secretion of four of these hormones, ghrelin, cholecystokinin (CCK), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and peptide tyrosine tyrosine [PYY(3-36)], and their contributions to the controls of GI motor function, food intake, and meal-related increases in glycemia in healthy-weight and obese persons, as well as in RYGB patients. Their physiological roles as classical endocrine and as locally acting signals are discussed. Gastric emptying, the detection of specific digestive products by small intestinal enteroendocrine cells, and synergistic interactions among different GI loci all contribute to the secretion of ghrelin, CCK, GLP-1, and PYY(3-36). While CCK has been fully established as an endogenous endocrine control of eating in healthy-weight persons, the roles of all four hormones in eating in obese persons and following RYGB are uncertain. Similarly, only GLP-1 clearly contributes to the endocrine control of meal-related glycemia. It is likely that local signaling is involved in these hormones' actions, but methods to determine the physiological status of local signaling effects are lacking. Further research and fresh approaches are required to better understand ghrelin, CCK, GLP-1, and PYY(3-36) physiology; their roles in obesity and bariatric surgery; and their therapeutic potentials.
387 citations
Cites background from "Sex differences in the physiology o..."
...Women spontaneously eat progressively less during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, reaching a nadir in daily food intake during the periovulatory phase that is 275 kcal/day less than the luteal-phase maximum (38)....
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...Rats and mice also display a decrease in food intake during the periovulatory phase, due in part to an increase in the satiating potency of CCK related to estrogen signaling in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) (38)....
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TL;DR: The health impacts of isolation measures during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia (March/April) on diet and physical activity patterns in third-year biomedical students are examined, with the potential to affect long-term diet and activity behaviours.
Abstract: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in physical isolation measures in many parts of the world In Australia, nationwide restrictions included staying at home, unless seeking medical care, providing care, purchasing food, undertaking exercise, or attending work in an essential service All undergraduate university classes transitioned to online, mostly home-based learning We, therefore, examined the effect of isolation measures during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia (March/April) on diet (24-h recall) and physical activity (Active Australia Survey) patterns in third-year biomedical students Findings were compared with students enrolled in the same course in the previous two years In females, but not males, energy intake was ~20% greater during the pandemic, and snacking frequency and energy density of consumed snacks also increased compared with 2018 and 2019 Physical activity was impacted for both sexes during the pandemic with ~30% fewer students achieving “sufficient” levels of activity, defined by at least 150 min over at least five sessions, compared with the previous two years In a follow-up study six to eight weeks later (14–18% response rate), during gradual easing of nationwide restrictions albeit continued gym closures and online learning, higher energy intake in females and reduced physical activity levels in both sexes persisted These data demonstrate the health impacts of isolation measures, with the potential to affect long-term diet and activity behaviours
215 citations
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113,134 citations
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7,730 citations
"Sex differences in the physiology o..." refers background in this paper
...In that overeating appears to be the primary cause of the obesity epidemic (195, 496, 716), this difference could contribute to the sex differences in obesity prevalence mentioned above (226)....
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...and morbid obesity (BMI 35 and 40 kg/m(2), respectively, mass/height(2)) (226)....
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TL;DR: A model is described that delineates the roles of individual hormonal and neuropeptide signalling pathways in the control of food intake and the means by which obesity can arise from inherited or acquired defects in their function.
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6,178 citations
TL;DR: The Statistical Update brings together the most up-to-date statistics on heart disease, stroke, other vascular diseases, and their risk factors and presents them in its Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update each year.
Abstract: Appendix I: List of Statistical Fact Sheets. URL: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2007
We wish to thank Drs Brian Eigel and Michael Wolz for their valuable comments and contributions. We would like to acknowledge Tim Anderson and Tom Schneider for their editorial contributions and Karen Modesitt for her administrative assistance.
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# Summary {#article-title-2}
Each year, the American Heart Association, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies, brings together the most up-to-date statistics on heart disease, stroke, other vascular diseases, and their risk factors and presents them in its Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update. The Statistical Update is a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, healthcare policy makers, media professionals, the lay public, and many others who seek the best national data available on disease …
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TL;DR: New findings suggest a fundamental role for the AIC (and the von Economo neurons it contains) in awareness, and thus it needs to be considered as a potential neural correlate of consciousness.
Abstract: The anterior insular cortex (AIC) is implicated in a wide range of conditions and behaviours, from bowel distension and orgasm, to cigarette craving and maternal love, to decision making and sudden insight. Its function in the re-representation of interoception offers one possible basis for its involvement in all subjective feelings. New findings suggest a fundamental role for the AIC (and the von Economo neurons it contains) in awareness, and thus it needs to be considered as a potential neural correlate of consciousness.
5,279 citations
"Sex differences in the physiology o..." refers background in this paper
...The neural bases of normal and disordered human eating, eatingrelated behavior, cognition, and affect can now be investigated with functional brain imaging, which indirectly measures levels of neuronal activity in circumscribed brain areas (111, 141, 173, 230, 410, 509, 753, 756)....
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