【Science sub-journal】Shocked! Studies have found that obesity is a neurodevelopmental disorder

This article is the original of the translational medicine network, please indicate the source when reprinting

Author: Jevin

Recent genome-wide association studies have shown that obesity is primarily a neurodevelopmental disorder strongly influenced by nutrients during critical individual windows, epigenetic mechanisms that regulate neurodevelopment
.
However, little is known about their role in establishing and maintaining the brain's energy balance circuit
.
Neurons and glial cell methyl groups and transcriptomes were produced in male and female mouse hypothalamic arch nuclei (key sites for energy balance regulation), and these time points crossed the closure
of an established critical window for obesity risk developmental programming.
The study found that postpartum epigenetic maturation has distinct cell type and sex specificity and occurs in genomic regions rich in
human body mass index heritability.

The team's research was published in Science Advances
.
Studies have shown that the molecular mechanisms of early brain development may be a major determinant
of obesity risk.
Previous large studies in humans have shown that the genes most strongly associated with obesity are expressed
in the developing brain.
Current research in mice has focused on epigenetic development
.
Epigenetics is a molecular bookmarking system used to determine which genes will or will not be used for different cell types
.

arch nucleus

 01 

In recent decades, the global prevalence of obesity has risen rapidly, affecting more than 2 billion people, making it one of
the biggest contributors to poor global health.
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and partner institutions say the focus must shift from obesity treatment to prevention
.

In the new study, the scientists focused on a brain region called the hypothalamic arch nucleus, which is the primary regulator of food intake, physical activity, and metabolism
.
They found that the arc nucleus undergoes extensive epigenetic maturation in the early postpartum period
.
This period is also very sensitive to developmental planning for weight regulation, suggesting that these effects may be the result of
epigenetic maturation disorders.

Genome-wide analysis

 02

The team performed genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation and gene expression, and they looked at two broad classes of brain cells, neurons and glial cells, which proved to be very different
in epigenetic maturity between the two cell types.

When the researchers compared the epigenetic data of the mice with human data from large genome-wide association studies, the biggest finding was to screen for genetic variants
associated with obesity.
Targeting epigenetically mature genomic regions in mouse toxogeneous nuclei overlaps
strongly with regions of the human genome associated with body mass index (obesity index).

Research implications

 03 

These associations suggest that the risk of obesity in humans depends in part on the epigenetic development of the arch nucleus, and the findings provide new evidence that developmental epigenetics may involve early environmental and genetic influences on
obesity risk.
Therefore, prevention efforts to target these developmental processes may be key
to stopping the global obesity epidemic.

In addition, the findings provide a potential explanation for the limited proprioceptive window and sex differences in obesity developmental planning, and provide a wealth of resources
for epigenetic analysis of energy-balanced developmental planning.

Resources:

This article is intended to introduce medical research advances and cannot be used as a reference for
treatment options.
For health guidance, please visit a regular hospital
.

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