International journal of obesity : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity
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To examine the responsiveness of cardiac autonomic function and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) to exercise training in obese individuals without (OB) and with type 2 diabetes (ObT2D). ⋯ Exercise training improved HRV and parasympathetic modulation (lnHF) in OB subjects but not in ObT2D, indicating plasticity in the autonomic nervous system in response to this weight-neutral exercise program only in the absence of diabetes. HR complexity and BRS were not altered by 16 weeks of training in either OB or ObT2D individuals.
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Increased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and FT(3) levels are often found in clinically euthyroid obese individuals. Information on thyroid gene expression in human adipose tissue is scarce. The objective of this study was to measure the expression of the TSH receptor (TSHR) and the thyroid hormone receptor (TRalpha1) genes in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in obese individuals and to test the effect of weight loss on these genes. ⋯ In both subcutaneous and visceral fat, the thyroid gene expression (especially TSHR) is reduced in obesity. The reversal of these changes with major weight loss and the reciprocal changes in plasma TSH and FT(3) levels suggest a role for adipocytes in the regulation of TSH and thyroid hormones.
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Zinc-alpha2-glycoprotein (ZAG) was found to influence lipolysis in adipose tissue and has recently been proposed as a candidate factor in the regulation of body weight. ⋯ ZAG is closely linked to obesity. Serum ZAG level is inversely associated with body weight and percentage of body fat. The action of ZAG is associated with downregulated lipogenic enzymes and upregulated lipolytic enzyme expressions in adipose tissue of mice.
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Part of the heterogeneity of the obesity phenotype may originate from genetic differences between obese individuals that may influence energy expenditure (EE). ⋯ Several gene polymorphisms associated with obesity-related phenotypes but not FTO and UCP variants may be responsible for some of the inter-individual variability in postabsorptive REE and fat-induced thermogenesis unaccounted for by FFM, FM, age and sex. The association between FTO and obesity that has been reported earlier may not be mediated directly through modulation of EE in obese individuals.
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Rodent brown adipose tissue (BAT) is considered the main effector of adaptative thermogenesis as it contains a unique mitochondrial uncoupling protein, termed as uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1). The emergence of ectopic brown adipocytes in the white adipose tissue (WAT), called recruitment, might play an important role in the prevention of obesity. The recruitment phenomenon has until now been investigated mostly in vivo. ⋯ The study suggests that the nature and possibly the origin of WAT brown adipocytes is different from that of BAT brown adipocytes. It proposes an in vitro approach that could prove very useful to better characterize the WAT brown adipocyte-like cells.