Endocrine Abstracts

Obesity pandemic has a tremendous impact on economic and healthcare systems. Our group investigates molecular mechanisms involved in obesity and its associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We are particularly interested in studying the actions and mechanisms by which the central nervous system, and more precisely the hypothalamus, controls energy homeostasis. We have provided evidence that different gastrointestinal hormones such as GLP-1, ghrelin or uroguanylin, acts through the hypothalamus to modulate not only food intake, but also peripheral metabolism. Furthermore, we have also shown that neuropeptides like melanin concentrating hormone and neurotransmitters like dopamine can differentially modulate systemic metabolism by acting on specific neuronal subsets. The effects of peripheral and central signals are tightly controlled through the autonomic nervous system. The appropriate crosstalk between peripheral organs and the brain is essential to maintain a fine-tune regulation of energy balance and understanding the complex and redundant metabolic networks are critical to find new targets to fight against metabolic syndrome.