title: Repeated sense of hunger leads to the development of visceral obesity and metabolic syndrome in a mouse model.
abstract: Obesity-related disorders, especially metabolic syndrome, contribute to 2.8 million deaths each year worldwide, with significantly increasing morbidity. Eating at regular times and proper food quantity are crucial for maintaining a healthy status. However, many people in developed countries do not follow a regular eating schedule due to a busy lifestyle. Herein, we show that a repeated sense of hunger leads to a high risk of developing visceral obesity and metabolic syndrome in a mouse model (both 3-week and 6-week-old age, 10 mice in each group). The ad libitum (AL) group (normal eating pattern) and the food restriction (FR) group (alternate-day partially food restriction by given only 1/3 of average amount) were compared after 8-week experimental period. The total food consumption in the FR group was lower than in the AL group, however, the FR group showed a metabolic syndrome-like condition with significant fat accumulation in adipose tissues. Consequently, the repeated sense of hunger induced the typical characteristics of metabolic syndrome in an animal model; a distinct visceral obesity, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and hepatic steatosis. Furthermore, we found that specifically leptin, a major metabolic hormone, played a major role in the development of these pathological disorders. Our study indicated the importance of regular eating habits besides controlling calorie intake.
authors.affiliation: Liver and Immunology Research Center, Institute of Traditional Medicine and Bioscience of Daejeon University, 22-5, Daeheung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Liver and Immunology Research Center, Institute of Traditional Medicine and Bioscience of Daejeon University, 22-5, Daeheung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeong-Geug
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Liver and Immunology Research Center, Institute of Traditional Medicine and Bioscience of Daejeon University, 22-5, Daeheung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Liver and Immunology Research Center, Institute of Traditional Medicine and Bioscience of Daejeon University, 22-5, Daeheung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Liver and Immunology Research Center, Institute of Traditional Medicine and Bioscience of Daejeon University, 22-5, Daeheung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Ae
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Liver and Immunology Research Center, Institute of Traditional Medicine and Bioscience of Daejeon University, 22-5, Daeheung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Gue
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001066:Appetite; D001692:Biological Transport; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004435:Eating; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006815:Hunger; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D050155:Lipogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051379:Mice; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D008055:Lipids