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Simultaneous postprandial deregulation of the orexigenic endocannabinoid anandamide and the anorexigenic peptide YY in obesity

International Journal of Obesity volume 36, pages 880–885 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

The endocannabinoid system is a potential pharmacotherapy target for obesity. However, the role of this system in human food intake regulation is currently unknown.

Methods:

To test whether circulating endocannabinoids might functionally respond to food intake and verify whether these orexigenic signals are deregulated in obesity alongside with anorexigenic ones, we measured plasma anandamide (AEA), 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and peptide YY (PYY) changes in response to a meal in 12 normal-weight and 12 non-diabetic, insulin-resistant obese individuals.

Results:

Both normal-weight and obese subjects had a significant preprandial AEA peak. Postprandially, AEA levels significantly decreased in normal-weight, whereas no significant changes were observed in obese subjects. Similarly, PYY levels significantly increased in normal-weight subjects only. No meal-related changes were found for 2-AG. Postprandial AEA and PYY changes inversely correlated with waist circumference, and independently explained 20.7 and 21.3% of waist variance. Multiple regression analysis showed that postprandial AEA and PYY changes explained 34% of waist variance, with 8.2% of the variance commonly explained.

Conclusion:

These findings suggest that AEA might be a physiological meal initiator in humans and furthermore show that postprandially AEA and PYY are concomitantly deregulated in obesity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S Vitiello, F Bermudez-Silva, JB Corcuff, A Georges and the nurses of the Endocrinology Department at the Haut-Lévêque Hospital for their help in the study; we also thank the subjects who participated in the study. This study was supported by the INSERM/AVENIR (DC, GM), INSERM/interface (DC), Aquitaine Region (DC), French Society of Endocrinology (BGC), EU-FP7 HEALTH-F2-2008-223713 and EU-FP7 ENDOFOOD ERC-2010-StG (GM).

Author information

Author notes

  1. B Gatta-Cherifi and I Matias: These authors contributed equally to this work.

  2. P V Piazza and D Cota: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group ‘Energy Balance and Obesity’, INSERM U862, Neurocentre Magendie, Bordeaux, France

    B Gatta-Cherifi, A Tabarin & D Cota

  2. Endocrinology Department, Haut-Lévêque Hospital, Pessac, France

    B Gatta-Cherifi & A Tabarin

  3. Université de Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France

    B Gatta-Cherifi, I Matias, M Vallée, A Tabarin, G Marsicano, P V Piazza & D Cota

  4. Group ‘Endocannabinoids and Neuroadaptation’, INSERM U862, Neurocentre Magendie, Bordeaux, France

    I Matias & G Marsicano

  5. Group ‘Physiopathology of Addiction’, INSERM U862, Neurocentre Magendie, Bordeaux, France

    M Vallée & P V Piazza

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  1. B Gatta-Cherifi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D Cota.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on International Journal of Obesity website

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Gatta-Cherifi, B., Matias, I., Vallée, M. et al. Simultaneous postprandial deregulation of the orexigenic endocannabinoid anandamide and the anorexigenic peptide YY in obesity. Int J Obes 36, 880–885 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.165

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