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Anxiety regulation

Signalling from adipose tissue to the brain is not just about leptin

Nature Metabolism volume 7, pages 867–868 (2025)Cite this article

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A Nature Metabolism study shows that, under acute stress, fatty acids liberated by lipolysis of white fat cells cause release from local macrophages of the growth-differentiation factor GDF15, which, in turn, binds to the receptor GFRAL in the brain, evoking anxiety.

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Fig. 1: Possible mechanism of stress-induced anxiety through lipolysis.

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  1. Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, C2-94, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Peter Arner

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  1. Peter Arner
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Correspondence to Peter Arner.

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Arner, P. Signalling from adipose tissue to the brain is not just about leptin. Nat Metab 7, 867–868 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01277-y

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