Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:27:11.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The acquisition of obesity: insights from cellular and genetic research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

Martin Wabitsch
Martin Wabitsch*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Ulm, Prittwitzstr. 43, 89075 Ulm, Germany
*
Corresponding author: Dr Martin Wabitsch, fax +49 731 502 7789, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The acquisition of increased adipose tissue mass in man occurs during prolonged periods of positive energy balance. Normally, energy homeostasis in children and adults is regulated strictly and the energy stores are kept within the defined age-dependent physiological range. Susceptibility to definitive increases in the level of energy balance during times of reduced energy consumption or increased energy intake, leading to changes in body composition and/or changes in relative body weight, seems to be genetically determined. Although at present much information on the regulation of energy homeostasis and related unfavourable factors exists from animal studies, knowledge of the regulation of energy balance in human subjects is still insufficient. Some evidence on relevant factors involved in the regulation of energy balance in man has been obtained from epidemiological data, as well as from studies of patients with rare monogenetic forms of obesity. In the present article a special focus will be put on the regulation of body energy stores at the level of the adipose tissue, with emphasis on the regulation of human adipocyte differentiation. In addition to the currently intensive scientific interest in the central regulation of energy homeostasis in man, there is sufficient evidence to support the idea that the acquisition of an increased adipose tissue mass is also dependent on the susceptibility of pre-adipocytes to proliferate, to differentiate or to enter into apoptosis.

Keywords

ObesityChildhoodAdipose tissue
Type
Symposium on ‘Growing up with good nutrition: a focus on the first two decades’
Information
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , May 2000 , pp. 325 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2000

References

Ailhaud, G & Hauner, H (1997) Development of white adipose tissue. In Handbook of Obesity, pp. 359–378 [Bray, GA, Bouchard, C and James, WPT, editors]. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc.Google Scholar
Baum, D, Beck, RQ, Hammer, LD, Brasel, JA & Greenwood, MRC (1985) Adipose tissue thymidin kinase activity in man. Pediatric Research 20, 118–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brook, CGD (1976) Cellular growth: adipose tissue. In Human Growth, Vol. 2, pp. 21–33 [F, Falkner and JM, Tanner, editors]. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Clement, K, Vaisse, C, Lahlou, N, Cabrol, S, Pelloux, V, Cassuto, D, Gourmelen, M, Dina, C, Chambaz, J, Lacorte, JM, Basdevant, A, Bougneres, P, Lebouc, Y, Froguel, P & Guy-Grand, B (1998) A mutation in the human leptin receptor gene causes obesity and pituitary dysfunction. Nature 392, 398–401.Google Scholar
Dietz, WH (1994) Critical periods in childhood for the development of obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 59, 955–959.Google Scholar
Dugdale, AE (1975) Pattern of fat and lean tissue deposition in children. Nature 256, 725–726.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, JM & Halaas, JL (1998) Leptin and the regulation of body weight in mammals. Nature 395, 763–770.Google Scholar
Hauner, H (1992) Physiology of the fat cells, with emphasis on the role of growth hormone. Acta Paediatrica Suppl. 383, 47–51.Google Scholar
Hauner, H, Entenmann, G, Wabitsch, M, Gaillard, D, Ailhaud, G, Negrel, R & Pfeiffer, EF (1989a) Promoting effect of glucocorticoids on the differentiation of human adipocyte precursor cells cultured in a chemically defined medium. Journal of Clinical Investigation 84, 1663–1670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hauner, H, Röhrig, K & Petruschke, T (1995) Effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) on human adipocyte development and function. European Journal of Clinical Investigation 25, 90–96.Google Scholar
Hauner, H, Wabitsch, M & Pfeiffer, EF (1989b) Proliferation and differentiation of adipocyte precursor cells from children at different ages. In Obesity in Europe 1988, pp. 195–200 [Björntorp, P, editor]. London: John Libbey.Google Scholar
Hauner, H, Wabitsch, M, Zwiauer, K, Widhalm, K & Pfeiffer, EF (1989c) Adipogenic activity in sera from obese children before and after weight reduction. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 63–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heinig, MJ, Nommsen, LA, Peerson, JM, Lonnerdal, B & Dewey, KG (1993) Energy and protein intakes of breast-fed and formula-fed infants during the first year of life and their association with growth velocity: the DARLING study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 58, 152–161.Google Scholar
Hu, E, Kim, JB, Sarraf, P & Spiegelman, BM (1996) Inhibition of adipogenesis through MAP kinase-mediated phosphorylation of PPARgamma. Science 274, 2100–2103.Google Scholar
Jackson, RS, Creemers, JWM, Ohagi, S, Raffin-Sanson, ML, Sanders, L, Montague, CT, Hutton, JC & O'Rahilly, S (1997) Obesity and impaired prohormone processing associated with mutations in the prohormone convertase 1 gene. Nature Genetics 16, 303–306.Google Scholar
Knittle, J (1976) Adipose tissue development in man. In Human Growth, Vol. 2, pp. 295–315 [Falkner, F and Tanner, JM, editors]. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Krude, H, Biebermann, H, Luck, W, Horn, R, Brabant, G & Gruters, A (1998) Severe early-onset obesity, adrenal insufficiency and red hair pigmentation caused by POMC mutations in human. Nature Genetics 19, 155–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, AL, Eberhardt, NL & Jensen, MD (1999) Role of nonexercise activity thermogenesis in resistance to fat gain in humans. Science 283, 212–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Montague, CT, Farooqi, S, Whitehead, JP, Soos, MA, Rau, H, Wareham, NJ, Sewter, CP, Digby, JE, Mohammed, SN, Hurst, JA, Cheetham, CH, Earley, AR, Barnett, AH, Prins, JB & O'Rahilly, S (1997) Congenital leptin deficiency is associated with severe early-onset obesity in humans. Nature 387, 903–908.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Niesler, CU, Siddle, K & Prins, JB (1998) Human preadipocytes display a depot-specific susceptibility to apoptosis. Diabetes 47, 1365–1368.Google Scholar
Petruschke, T, Röhrig, K & Hauner, H (1994) Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-b) inhibits the differentiation of human adipocyte precursor cells in primary culture. International Journal of Obesity 18, 532–536.Google ScholarPubMed
Prins, JB, Walker, NI, Winterford, CM & Cameron, DP (1994) Human adipocyte apoptosis occurs in malignancy. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 205, 625–630.Google Scholar
Prins, JB & O'Rahilly, S (1997) Regulation of adipose cell number in man. Clinical Science 92, 3–11.Google Scholar
Prins, JB, Niesler, CU, Winterford, CM, Bright, NA, Siddle, K, O'Rahilly, S, Walker, NI & Cameron, DP (1997) Tumor necrosis factor-alpha induces apoptosis of human adipose cells. Diabetes 46, 1939–1944.Google Scholar
Ristow, M, Müller-Wieland, D, Pfeiffer, A, Krone, W & Kahn, R (1998) Obesity associated with a mutation in a genetic regulator of adipocyte differentiation. New England Journal of Medicine 339, 953–959.Google Scholar
Rolland-Cachera, MF, Deheeger, M, Akrout, M & Bellisle, F (1995) Influence of macronutrients on adiposity development: a follow up study of nutrition and growth from 10 months to 8 years of age. International Journal of Obesity 19, 573–578.Google ScholarPubMed
Rolland-Cachera, MF, Deheeger, M, Bellisle, F, Sempe, M, Guilloud-Bataille, M & Patois, E (1984) Adiposity rebound in children: a simple indicator for predicting obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 39, 129–135.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, M & Leibel, RL (1998) The physiology of body weight regulation: relevance to the etiology of obesity in children. Pediatrics 101, 525–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strobel, A, Camoin, TIL, Ozata, M & Strossberg, AD (1998) A leptin missense mutation associated with hypogonadism and morbid obesity. Nature Genetics 18, 213–215.Google Scholar
Troiano, RP & Flegal, AM (1998) Overweight children and adolescents: description, epidemiology, and demographics. Pediatrics 101, 497–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaisse, C, Clement, K, Guy-Grand, B & Froguel, P (1998) A frameshift mutation in human MC4R is associated with a dominant form of obesity. Nature Genetics 20, 113–114.Google Scholar
von, Kries R, Koletzko, B, Sauerwald, T, von, Mutius E, Barnert, D, Grunert, V & von, Voss H (1999) Breast feeding and obesity: cross sectional study. British Medical Journal 319 147–150.Google Scholar
Wabitsch, M, Hauner, H, Heinze, E & Teller, W (1995) The role of GH/IGF's in adipocyte differentiation. Metabolism 44, Suppl., 45–49.Google Scholar
Wabitsch, M, Braun, S, Hauner, H, Heinze, E, Ilondo, MM, Shymko, R, De, Meyts P & Teller, WM (1996) Mitogenic and antiadipogenic properties of human growth hormone in human adipocyte precursor cells in primary culture. Pediatric Research 40, 450–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeo, GS, Faroogi, IS, Aminian, S, Halsall, DJ, Stanhope, RG & O'Rahilly, S (1998) A frameshift mutation in MC4R associated with dominantly inherited human obesity. Nature Genetics 20, 111–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed