title: The hypothalamic neural-glial network and the metabolic syndrome.
abstract: Despite numerous educational interventions and biomedical research efforts, modern society continues to suffer from obesity and its associated metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, and these diseases show little sign of abating. One reason for this is an incomplete understanding of the pathology of the metabolic syndrome, which obstructs the development of effective therapeutic strategies. While hypothalamic neuropathy is a potential candidate that may contribute to the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome, the specific causes of hypothalamic neuropathy remain largely unknown. During different stages of high-calorie diet-induced metabolic syndrome, the hypothalamus undergoes gliosis and angiogenesis, both of which potentially reflect ongoing inflammatory processes. This overview discusses current data suggesting a role for hypothalamic inflammation-like processes in diet-induced metabolic diseases and provides a perspective on how to unravel molecular mechanisms of "hypothalamic inflammation" in order to develop anti-obesity therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Centre for Health and Environment & Technische Universität München, Munich 85748, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jastroch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Centre for Health and Environment & Technische Universität München, Munich 85748, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morin
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Centre for Health and Environment & Technische Universität München, Munich 85748, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Tschöp
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Centre for Health and Environment & Technische Universität München, Munich 85748, Germany. Electronic address: chun-xia.yi@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Chun-Xia
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Yi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000378:metabolism*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism
keywords: blood brain barrier; cytokines; diabetes; leptin resistance; mitochondria; neurogenesis