Modulation of food reward by ghrelin

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Obesity is related to a variety of pathologic conditions that include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and renal insufficiency, all of which can lead to an early death and poor quality of life. In Canada, the rate of obesity and the health and economic issues associated with this condition have reached alarming levels. These have been met with increased efforts to better understand the mechanisms that lead to imbalances in metabolic function with some encouraging results, but still ineffective in controlling energy balance and curbing obesity in the long term. One possible reason for these shortcomings is that a great deal of attention has been given to brain circuits implicated in energy regulation, with relatively less attention paid to motivational aspects of feeding. Nevertheless, feeding in humans is often elicited and regulated by factors other than basic homeostatic imbalances. This proposal seeks to provide evidence that the stomach-derived hormone ghrelin targets brain regions important for the display of motivated behaviors. The results from the proposed studies will lead to a better understanding of the hormonal regulation of goal seeking behaviors, and ultimately may serve to develop novel approaches to curb cravings not only for high caloric foods, but also cravings for drugs of abuse.