Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Feb 3;13(2):498.
doi: 10.3390/nu13020498.

The Role of Hypothalamic Inflammation in Diet-Induced Obesity and Its Association with Cognitive and Mood Disorders

Sofia Dionysopoulou  1 , Evangelia Charmandari  2   3 , Alexandra Bargiota  4 , Nikolaos Vlahos  5 , George Mastorakos  6 , Georgios Valsamakis  4   6
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Hypothalamic Inflammation in Diet-Induced Obesity and Its Association with Cognitive and Mood Disorders

Sofia Dionysopoulou et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Obesity is often associated with cognitive and mood disorders. Recent evidence suggests that obesity may cause hypothalamic inflammation. Our aim was to investigate the hypothesis that there is a causal link between obesity-induced hypothalamic inflammation and cognitive and mood disorders. Inflammation may influence hypothalamic inter-connections with regions important for cognition and mood, while it may cause dysregulation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and influence monoaminergic systems. Exercise, healthy diet, and glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists, which can reduce hypothalamic inflammation in obese models, could improve the deleterious effects on cognition and mood.

Keywords: cognitive disorders; dementia; depression; diet; hypothalamic inflammation; mood disorders; obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Daskalakis, N.P.; McGill, M.A.; Lehrner, A.; Yehuda, R. (2015). Endocrine Aspects of PTSD: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis and Beyond. Comprehensive Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 1–14. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08613-2_130-1 [133] HPA axis dysfunction in patients with major depression. Disrupted HPA axis negative feedback, leads to high cortisol levels in depressed patients.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A.A. Miller, S.J. Spencer / Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 42 (2014) 10–21 [58]. Proposed mechanisms of cognitive impairment in obesity. Obesity is characterized by increased proinflammatory cytokines and free fatty acids that can access central nervous system through increased BBB permeability or through ARC that lacks an effective BBB. Hypothalamic inflammation can probably affect the hypothalamic outputs to the other brain regions and the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis activity. ARC: Arcuate nucleus, BBB: Blood-brain barrier, LH: Lateral hypothalamus, PVN: Paraventricular nucleus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO|Obesity. [(accessed on 2 May 2020)]; Available online: https://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/
    1. Solomons N.W., Gross R. Urban Nutrition in Developing Countries. Nutr. Rev. 1995;53:90–95. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.1995.tb01526.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kvist H., Sjostrom L., Tylen U. Adipose Tissue Volume Determinations in Women by Computed Tomography: Technical Considerations. Int. J. Obes. 1986;10:53–67. - PubMed
    1. Thomas E.L., Saeed N., Hajnal J.V., Brynes A., Goldstone A.P., Frost G., Bell J.D. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Total Body Fat. J. Appl. Physiol. 1998;85:1778–1785. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1998.85.5.1778. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Heilbronn L.K., Rood J., Janderova L., Albu J.B., Kelley D.E., Ravussin E., Smith S.R. Relationship between Serum Resistin Concentrations and Insulin Resistance in Nonobese, Obese, and Obese Diabetic Subjects. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2004;89:1844–1848. doi: 10.1210/jc.2003-031410. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances