Neonatal overnutrition causes early alterations in the central response to peripheral ghrelin.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Excess nutrient supply and rapid weight gain during early life are risk factors for the development of obesity during adulthood. This metabolic malprogramming may be mediated by endocrine disturbances during critical periods of development. Ghrelin is a metabolic hormone secreted from the stomach that acts centrally to promote feeding behavior by binding to growth hormone secretagogue receptors in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Here, we examined whether neonatal overnutrition causes changes in the ghrelin system.

Methods

We used a well-described mouse model of divergent litter sizes to study the effects of postnatal overfeeding on the central and peripheral ghrelin systems during postnatal development.

Results

Mice raised in small litters became ov

SUBMITTER: Collden G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4314535 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature