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Basic science, physiology, genetics, phenotyping and metabolism

This section includes studies on all aspects of the underlying biological aspects of obesity in the body, including genetics, hormone interactions, lipid metabolism, adipocyte physiology and function, and metabolic dysfunction and disease risk.

  1. Shortly after bariatric surgery, insulin sensitivity improves and circulating Fetuin-A (FetA) declines. Elevated FetA may decrease insulin sensitivity by inhibiting insulin receptor autophosphorylation. FetA a...

    Authors: Katie N. Robinson, Blair Rowitz, Uretz J. Oliphant, Sharon M. Donovan and Margarita Teran-Garcia
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2019 6:15
  2. Genome-wide association studies have implicated the transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene in type 2 diabetes risk, and more recently, in decreased body mass index. Given the contrary direction of genetic ef...

    Authors: Lindsay Fernández-Rhodes, Annie Green Howard, Mariaelisa Graff, Carmen R. Isasi, Heather M. Highland, Kristin L. Young, Esteban Parra, Jennifer E. Below, Qibin Qi, Robert C. Kaplan, Anne E. Justice, George Papanicolaou, Cathy C. Laurie, Struan F. A. Grant, Christopher Haiman, Ruth J. F. Loos…
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2018 5:26
  3. Capsaicinoids (CAPs) found in chili peppers and pepper extracts, are responsible for enhanced metabolism. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of CAPs on body fat and fat mass while consideri...

    Authors: James Rogers, Stacie L. Urbina, Lem W. Taylor, Colin D. Wilborn, Martin Purpura, Ralf Jäger and Vijaya Juturu
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2018 5:22
  4. The global pandemic of obesity and the metabolic syndrome are leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Bariatric surgery leads to sustained weight loss and improves obesity-associated morbidity including rem...

    Authors: Abdullah Alkandari, Hutan Ashrafian, Thozhukat Sathyapalan, Peter Sedman, Ara Darzi, Elaine Holmes, Thanos Athanasiou, Stephen L. Atkin and Nigel J. Gooderham
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2018 5:20
  5. Abdominal obesity is linked to cardiovascular diseases in type 1 diabetes (T1D). The primary aim was to explore associations between abdominal obesity and cardiovascular complications, metabolic and inflammato...

    Authors: Eva O. Melin, Hans O. Thulesius, Magnus Hillman, Mona Landin-Olsson and Maria Thunander
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2018 5:15
  6. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is associated with metabolic risk, however it is unclear whether the relationship is confounded by racial/ethnic differences in socioeconomic status (SES), lifestyle...

    Authors: Cindy George, Juliet Evans, Lisa K. Micklesfield, Tommy Olsson and Julia H. Goedecke
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2018 5:14
  7. Baker’s/brewer’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been used as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters to improve growth performance in animals. In humans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is among the most com...

    Authors: Anne Stine Kvehaugen, Martin Aasbrenn and Per G. Farup
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2017 4:28
  8. Obesity was identified as a major risk factor for malignant diseases, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Natural killer (NK) cells, a pivotal aspect of innate immunity, are capable of identifying and ki...

    Authors: J. Spielmann, J. Hanke, D. Knauf, S. Ben-Eliyahu, R. Jacobs, G. I. Stangl, I. Bähr and H. Kielstein
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2017 4:24
  9. Obesity is linked to cardiovascular diseases and increasingly common in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) since the introduction of intensified insulin therapy. Our main aim was to explore associations between o...

    Authors: Eva O. Melin, Ralph Svensson, Maria Thunander, Magnus Hillman, Hans O. Thulesius and Mona Landin-Olsson
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2017 4:21
  10. Broiler chickens are compulsive feeders that become obese as juveniles and are thus a unique model for metabolic disorders in humans. However, little is known about the relationship between dietary composition...

    Authors: Guoqing Wang, Betty R. McConn, Dongmin Liu, Mark A. Cline and Elizabeth R. Gilbert
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2017 4:14
  11. Both sprint interval training (SIT) and high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) have been described as time-efficient strategies for inducing favourable metabolic and cardiorespiratory adaptations in healt...

    Authors: Benjamin M. Kelly, Soteris Xenophontos, James A. King and Myra A. Nimmo
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2017 4:17
  12. Resting metabolic rates (RMR) vary across individuals. Understanding the determinants of RMR could provide biological insight into obesity and its metabolic consequences such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascu...

    Authors: Jacklyn N. Hellwege, Digna R. Velez Edwards, Sari Acra, Kong Chen, Maciej S. Buchowski and Todd L. Edwards
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2017 4:12
  13. Glucose homeostasis improves within days following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery. The dynamic metabolic response to caloric intake following RYGB has been assessed using liquid mixed meal tolerance t...

    Authors: Sudha S. Shankar, Lori A. Mixson, Manu Chakravarthy, Robin Chisholm, Anthony J. Acton, RoseMarie Jones, Samer G. Mattar, Deborah L. Miller, Lea Petry, Chan R. Beals, S. Aubrey Stoch, David E. Kelley and Robert V. Considine
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2017 4:10
  14. Reports on alterations in somatic neural functions due to non-diabetic obesity, a major risk factor for diabetes, are few and still a matter of debate. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, reports lack any comments...

    Authors: Ram Lochan Yadav, Deepak Sharma, Prakash Kumar Yadav, Dev Kumar Shah, Kopila Agrawal, Rita Khadka and Md. Nazrul Islam
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:50
  15. Obesity-related comorbidities are thought to result from the reprogramming of the epigenome in numerous tissues and cell types, and in particular, mature adipocytes within visceral and subcutaneous adipose tis...

    Authors: Suresh Ambati, Ping Yu, Elizabeth C. McKinney, Muthugapatti K. Kandasamy, Diane Hartzell, Clifton A. Baile and Richard B. Meagher
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:35
  16. Obesity has long been highlighted for its association with increased incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Nonetheless, the best adiposity indices to evaluate the CVD risk factors remain contentious and f...

    Authors: Xinyan Bi, Siew Ling Tey, Claudia Leong, Rina Quek, Yi Ting Loo and Christiani Jeyakumar Henry
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:33
  17. Maternal obesity is accompanied by maternal and fetal complications during and after pregnancy. The risks seem to increase with degree of obesity. Leptin has been suggested to play a role in the development of...

    Authors: Sara Carlhäll, Marie Bladh, Jan Brynhildsen, Ing-Marie Claesson, Ann Josefsson, Gunilla Sydsjö, Annika Thorsell and Marie Blomberg
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:28
  18. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma 2 (PPAR-γ2) is a transcription factor with a key role in adipocyte differentiation, lipid storage and glucose homeostasis. The Ala allele of the common Pro12Ala po...

    Authors: Edith Pascale M. Mato, Priscille Eunice Pokam-Fosso, Barbara Atogho-Tiedeu, Jean Jacques N. Noubiap, Marie-Solange Evehe, Rosine Djokam-Dadjeu, Olivier Sontsa Donfack, Elvis Ndonwi Ngwa, Magellan Guewo-Fokeng, Wilfred F. Mbacham, Eugene Sobngwi and Jean Claude Mbanya
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:26
  19. Obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women and is associated with decreased survival and less favorable clinical characteristics such as greater tumor burden, higher grade, and poor pro...

    Authors: Allyson L. Toro, Nicholas S. Costantino, Craig D. Shriver, Darrell L. Ellsworth and Rachel E. Ellsworth
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:22
  20. Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980 and is a leading risk for global deaths, profoundly affecting morbidity, mortality, health-care costs, and professional and personal quality of life. Treatment o...

    Authors: Nicole H. P. Cnubben, Shanti L. Tel, Marleen A. Hemmes, Astrid Langenkamp-Brand, Dimitri Grossouw, Harm T. Jansen and Bert T. H. J. de Bie
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:18
  21. Childhood obesity is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation considered as a precursor to metabolic disease; however, the underlying mechanisms for this remain unclear. Studies in adults have implicated...

    Authors: Madhusudhan C. Varma, Christine M. Kusminski, Sahar Azharian, Luisa Gilardini, Sudhesh Kumar, Cecilia Invitti and Philip G. McTernan
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:3
  22. Obesity is an independent cardiovascular risk factor that contributes to the development of atherosclerosis. Subclinical forms of the disease can be assessed via sonographic measurement of carotid intima-media...

    Authors: Heidi Weberruß, Raphael Pirzer, Birgit Böhm, Robert Dalla Pozza, Heinrich Netz and Renate Oberhoffer
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2016 3:2
  23. The expansion and function of adipose tissue are important during the development of insulin resistance and inflammation in obesity. Zinc dyshomeostasis is common in obese individuals. In the liver, zinc influ...

    Authors: Trine Maxel, Kamille Smidt, Agnete Larsen, Marianne Bennetzen, Karina Cullberg, Karen Fjeldborg, Sten Lund, Steen B. Pedersen and Jørgen Rungby
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2015 2:46
  24. Obesity is a global epidemic, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and metabolic abnormalities. It is measured by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), body fat ...

    Authors: Faridah Amin, Syeda Sadia Fatima, Najmul Islam and Anwar H Gilani
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2015 2:16
  25. People living in rural areas are prone to move to urban cities experiencing a dramatic change in the type of protein consumed. However, it is not know if those changes are associated with changes in the plasma...

    Authors: Adriana M López, Lilia G Noriega, Margarita Diaz, Nimbe Torres and Armando R Tovar
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2015 2:8
  26. The potential health effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) that are widely used as flame-retardants in consumer products have been attributed, in part, to their endocrine disrupting properties. The...

    Authors: Rebecca L McIntyre, Heidi L Kenerson, Savitha Subramanian, Shari A Wang, Machiko Kazami, Heather M Stapleton and Raymond S Yeung
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2015 2:3
  27. Obesity is associated with an elevated risk for several types of cancer and thus a major health hazard. However, the mechanism between overweight and cancer susceptibility is still elusive. Leptin, mainly prod...

    Authors: Tobias Laue, Christiane D Wrann, Birgit Hoffmann-Castendiek, Daniel Pietsch, Lena Hübner and Heike Kielstein
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2015 2:1
  28. Recent observation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) being functional in adult humans provides a rationale for its stimulation to increase energy expenditure through ‘adaptive thermogenesis’ for an anti-obesity st...

    Authors: Narendra L Reddy, Bee K Tan, Thomas M Barber and Harpal S Randeva
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2014 1:13
  29. Both obesity and a lack of physical activity have been associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The incidence of obesity is increasing, especially in juvenile-adolescents. While there ...

    Authors: Alannah van Waveren, Mitch J Duncan, Fiona R Coulson and Andrew Fenning
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2014 1:11
  30. Increased adiposity is often associated with over activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis (HPA axis) and the sympatho-adrenal medullary system (SAM system) and excessive activation of these pathwa...

    Authors: Sisitha U Jayasinghe, Susan J Torres, Caryl A Nowson, Alan J Tilbrook and Anne I Turner
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2014 1:14
  31. Previous studies have demonstrated that induction of heme oxygenase-1 results in weight loss in several rodent models of obesity. However, the specific role of the heme oxygenase-1 metabolite, carbon monoxide ...

    Authors: Peter A Hosick, Elhaitham K Ahmed, Monette U Gousset, Joey P Granger and David E Stec
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2014 1:6
  32. Heart failure (HF) patients are at risk for structural brain changes due to cerebral hypoperfusion. Past work shows obesity is linked with reduced cerebral blood flow and associated with brain atrophy in healt...

    Authors: Michael L Alosco, Adam M Brickman, Mary Beth Spitznagel, Atul Narkhede, Erica Y Griffith, Naftali Raz, Ronald Cohen, Lawrence H Sweet, Lisa H Colbert, Richard Josephson, Joel Hughes, Jim Rosneck and John Gunstad
    Citation: BMC Obesity 2014 1:4