Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 16 February 1979:
Vol. 203. no. 4381, pp. 663 - 665
DOI: 10.1126/science.760211
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Science, Vol 203, Issue 4381, 663-665
Copyright © 1979 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Obesity genes: beneficial effects in heterozygous mice

DL Coleman

The mouse mutant genes obese (ob) and diabetes (db) cause similar obesity-diabetes states in homozygotes. These obesity syndromes are characterized by a more efficient conversion of food to lipid and, once stored, a slower rate of catabolism on fasting. Heterozygous mice, either ob/+ or db/+, survived a prolonged fast significantly longer than normal homozygotes (+/+); this suggests that the heterozygotes exhibited increased metabolic efficiency, a feature normally associated with both homozygous mutants. The existence of this thriftiness trait, if manifested by heterozygous carriers in wild populations, would lend credence to the thrifty gene concept of diabetes. Beneficial effects of normally deleterious genes may have played a role in the development of diabetes-susceptible human populations, as well as having provided the survival advantage that has allowed both the development and successful establishment of species in desert and other less affluent regions.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Evolutionary Speculation About Tuberculosis and the Metabolic and Inflammatory Processes of Obesity.
J. Roth (2009)
JAMA 301, 2586-2588
   Full Text »    PDF »
Brain Adipocytokine Action and Metabolic Regulation.
R. S. Ahima, Y. Qi, N. S. Singhal, M. B. Jackson, and P. E. Scherer (2006)
Diabetes 55, S145-S154
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Appetite control.
K. Wynne, S. Stanley, B. McGowan, and S. Bloom (2005)
J. Endocrinol. 184, 291-318
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Hypothalamic Responses to Long-chain Fatty Acids Are Nutritionally Regulated.
K. Morgan, S. Obici, and L. Rossetti (2004)
J. Biol. Chem. 279, 31139-31148
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Monogenic Human Obesity Syndromes.
I.S. Farooqi and S. O'Rahilly (2004)
Recent Prog. Horm. Res. 59, 409-424
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Pegylated human recombinant leptin (PEG-OB) causes additional weight loss in severely energy-restricted, overweight men.
C. J Hukshorn, M. S Westerterp-Plantenga, and W. H. Saris (2003)
Am. J. Clinical Nutrition 77, 771-776
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Is the Energy Homeostasis System Inherently Biased Toward Weight Gain?.
M. W. Schwartz, S. C. Woods, R. J. Seeley, G. S. Barsh, D. G. Baskin, and R. L. Leibel (2003)
Diabetes 52, 232-238
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Overfeeding Rapidly Induces Leptin and Insulin Resistance.
J. Wang, S. Obici, K. Morgan, N. Barzilai, Z. Feng, and L. Rossetti (2001)
Diabetes 50, 2786-2791
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Effects of Leptin Deficiency and Short-Term Repletion on Hepatic Gene Expression in Genetically Obese Mice.
A. W. Ferrante, M. Thearle, T. Liao, and R. L. Leibel (2001)
Diabetes 50, 2268-2278
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Glucose metabolism in perfused mouse hearts overexpressing human GLUT-4 glucose transporter.
D. D. Belke, T. S. Larsen, E. M. Gibbs, and D. L. Severson (2001)
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 280, E420-E427
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Monogenic disorders of obesity and body fat distribution.
D. Chen and A. Garg (1999)
J. Lipid Res. 40, 1735-1746
   Abstract »    Full Text »
What's in a Name? In Search of Leptin's Physiologic Role.
J. S. Flier (1998)
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 83, 1407-1413
   Full Text »
Heterozygosity for Lepob or Leprdb affects body composition and leptin homeostasis in adult mice.
W. K. Chung, K. Belfi, M. Chua, J. Wiley, R. Mackintosh, M. Nicolson, C. N. Boozer, and R. L. Leibel (1998)
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol 274, R985-R990
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Leptin Impairs Metabolic Actions of Insulin in Isolated Rat Adipocytes.
G. Muller, J. Ertl, M. Gerl, and G. Preibisch (1997)
J. Biol. Chem. 272, 10585-10593
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)