Extensive literature links the dopamine receptor D2 to insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus type 2. However, many aspects of the functional relationship remain unclear. In this thesis we... Show moreExtensive literature links the dopamine receptor D2 to insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus type 2. However, many aspects of the functional relationship remain unclear. In this thesis we focused on unraveling the characteristics of the interplay between dopamine D2 receptors and glucose metabolism as well as understanding the underlying mechanism(s). We evaluated the impact of DRD2 agonistic and antagonistic drugs on glucose and insulin metabolism in healthy volunteers, mice and INS-1E cells and we assessed dopaminergic parameters under different metabolic conditions. Our results show that altered dopaminergic parameters associated with obesity are due to mechanisms other than diet composition. But, changes in dopaminergic signaling may set the stage for metabolic corollaries of high fat feeding and may be involved in the beneficial impact of calorie restriction. We also demonstrate that inhibiting DRD2 activation may affect glucose homeostasis independent of body weight alterations. The underlying mechanisms include a reduction in physical activity and a direct effect on insulin sensitivity. In addition we provide evidence that inhibition of insulin secretion may, paradoxically, underlie the beneficial impact of DRD2 activation on glucose metabolism. We believe these findings may offer new ideas for strategies to prevent of treat diabetes mellitus type 2. Show less
This thesis shows the results of a 16-week very low calorie diet on insulin resistance, Quality of Life, low-grade inflammation and ectopic fat depositions
The general aim of the studies described in this thesis is the effect evaluation of a family-based multidisciplinary cognitive behavioral treatment on several domains related to childhood obesity... Show moreThe general aim of the studies described in this thesis is the effect evaluation of a family-based multidisciplinary cognitive behavioral treatment on several domains related to childhood obesity compared to standard care. The main findings from these studies are a modest long-term reduction of both total and abdominal adiposity accompanied by improved physical fitness, while unchanged adiposity in the untreated controls led to decreased physical fitness and deteriorating insulin sensitivity. In addition, we found significantly impaired health related quality of life in the obese children compared to their normal weight peers. We showed that our multidisciplinary lifestyle treatment improved health related quality of life of the obese children after 1 year. We observed a significantly increased postprandial ghrelin response after the multidisciplinary treatment, but no effect on inflammatory markers, nor on gut hormones PYY and GLP-1. Finally, we propose an alternative for the definition of the metabolic syndrome in children, since the usefulness of its current dichotomous form is questionable. We show that a multivariate prediction model based on the individual components of the metabolic syndrome expressed as standard deviation scores (SDS) has a good predictive value regarding increased HOMA-IR SDS. Show less
