Melanocortin-4 receptor signaling is required for weight loss after gastric bypass surgery.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is one of the most effective long-term therapies for the treatment of severe obesity. Recent evidence indicates that RYGB effects weight loss through multiple physiological mechanisms, including changes in energy expenditure, food intake, food preference, and reward pathways.

Objective

Because central melanocortin signaling plays an important role in the regulation of energy homeostasis, we investigated whether genetic disruption of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) in rodents and humans affects weight loss after RYGB.

Methods and results

Here we report that MC4R(-/-) mice lost substantially less weight after surgery than wild-type animals, indicating that MC4R signaling is necessary for the weight loss effects of RYGB in this

SUBMITTER: Hatoum IJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3387412 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature