Endocrine Abstracts

Obesity has emerged as one of the key health concerns of this century due to its prevalence and resistance to treatment. Specifically, more than 60% of people within the UK are currently overweight or obese. Recently, significant progress has been made in clarifying brain neurochemicals and regions regulating energy intake and energy expenditure. Among these neurochemicals is the precursor polypeptide pro-opiomelanocortin (Pomc) localised within the homeostatic brain region th...

Obesity has emerged as one of the key health concerns of this century due to its prevalence and resistance to treatment. Specifically, more than 60% of people within the UK are currently overweight or obese. Recently, significant progress has been made in clarifying brain neurochemicals and regions regulating energy intake and energy expenditure. Among these neurochemicals is the precursor polypeptide pro-opiomelanocortin (Pomc) localised within the homeostatic brain region th...

Obesity is a primary healthcare challenge of the 21st century. Medications increasing the bioavailability of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytriptamine; 5-HT) have historically been used for obesity treatment. 5-HT primarily influences appetite via action at the 5-HT2C receptor (5-HT2CR); the clinical significance of which has recently been realized with the launch of the 5-HT2CR agonist lorcaserin for obesity treatment in the USA. Efforts to delineate the underpinnin...

The central serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) system is an established modulator of energy balance. Therefore, it is unsurprising that former (e.g. D-fenfluramine), current (e.g. sibutramine), and drug discovery (e.g. lorcaserin) obesity treatments target serotonin pathways to affect food intake and body weight. Pharmacological and genetic research implicates the Gq-coupled serotonin 2C receptor (5-HT2CR) and the Gi-coupled serotonin 1B receptor (5-HT1BR) sp...