ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Brief Summary: This review combined findings from human and rodent studies on the maternal factors that influence the neurodevelopmental programming of long-term adiposity. It highlights the roles of maternal nutritional status, metabolic hormones and epigenetic changes during gestation and the postnatal period on the programming of body weight in the offspring, and their impact on the development of hypothalamic, brain stem, and hedonic circuits within the central nervous sys...

Brief Summary: This study describes how the primary cilia of hypothalamic neurons bearing melanocortin-4 receptors (MC4R) progressively shorten with age, leading to reduced sensitivity to satiety signals, increased appetite, and obesity. This age-related ciliary shortening is exacerbated by chronic leptin-melanocortin signalling, but can be mitigated by dietary restriction or knockdown of ciliogenesis-associated kinase 1 (CILK1). These findings suggest potential therapeutic ap...

Brief Summary: This review describes progress of our understanding of insulin action in the brain, as well as the consequences of brain insulin resistance. Insulin resistance of the brain results in impaired modulation of peripheral metabolism, the maintenance of obesity and an unfavorable body fat distribution. Current evidence suggest that brain insulin resistance is a treatable condition, thereby improving systemic metabolism and brain functions including cognition.<p c...