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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

angiotensin II, food intake, weight loss, health

College

Life Sciences

Department

Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Abstract

In the United States obesity and its associated harmful effects are major health concerns which have received considerable attention by researchers. Studies have been performed in an attempt to discover the physiological mechanisms involved with food intake and weight loss. A few of these previous studies have shown that a hypothalamic peptide, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) plays an important role in regulating food intake. It has also been shown that CRH acts on specific receptors of the ventromedial hypothalamus and thus causes a cascade of anorectic neuropeptides and proteins responsible for a decrease in food intake and body weight. A significant weight loss is seen in the cases where CRH has been artificially increased. However, the physiological mechanisms which cause this increase of CRH have not yet been determined. Preliminary cardiovascular-related experiments done by Dr. James Porter on rats unexpectedly showed that an increase of brain Angiotensin II (ANG II) also plays a role in decreasing body weight, although food intake was not measured in those studies. CRH-secreting cells within the hypothalamus are known to express ANG II receptors.

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