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Metabolism

An appetite for exercise

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 11, page 662 (2010)Cite this article

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The authors rendered rats obese by feeding them a high-fat diet. This altered hypothalamic mRNA levels of neuropeptide Y and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), two neuropeptides involved in food intake regulation, and impaired insulin and leptin signalling in the hypothalamus. A session of swimming or treadmill running countered these effects and reduced food intake in obese rats but had no effect in lean rats.

In agreement with findings from previous studies, obese rats showed increased inhibitor of κB kinase β (IKKβ)–nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signalling and endoplasmatic reticulum (ER) stress in the hypothalamus compared with lean rats. These responses are known to impair insulin and leptin signalling. The authors showed that exercise normalized the level of IKKβ–NF-κB signalling and reduced ER stress. It also increased serum and hypothalamic levels of the cytokine IL-6 to a greater extent in obese than in lean rats. Importantly, intrahypothalamic injections of IL-6 in obese rats mimicked the effect of exercise on IKKβ–NF-κB signalling and ER stress. Conversely, an IL-6-specific antibody administered before the exercise session blocked the effects of exercise in obese rats.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Ropelle, E. R. et al. IL-6 and IL-10 anti-inflammatory activity links exercise to hypothalamic insulin and leptin sensitivity through IKKβ and ER stress inhibition. PLoS Biol. 8, e1000465 (2010)

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  1. Leonie Welberg
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Welberg, L. An appetite for exercise. Nat Rev Neurosci 11, 662 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2926

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