Richard Denis, Guesdon Benjamin, Timofeeva Elena
Laval Hospital Research Center, Québec, Canada, G1V 4G5.
Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Feb;23(1):17-32. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2008.10.007.
The role played by the endocannabinoid system in the regulation of energy balance is currently generating a great amount of interest among several groups of investigators. This interest in large part comes from the urgent need to develop anti-obesity and anti-cachexia drugs around target systems (such as the endocannabinoid system), which appears to be genuinely involved in energy balance regulation. When activated, the endocannabinoid system favors energy deposition through increasing energy intake and reducing energy expenditure. This system is activated in obesity and following food deprivation, which further supports its authentic function in energy balance regulation. The cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), one of the two identified cannabinoid receptors, is expressed in energy-balance brain structures that are also able to readily produce or inactivate N-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (anandamide) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2AG), the most abundantly formed and released endocannabinoids. The brain action of endocannabinoid system on energy balance seems crucial and needs to be delineated in the context of the homeostatic and hedonic controls of food intake and energy expenditure. These controls require the coordinated interaction of the hypothalamus, brainstem and limbic system and it appears imperative to unravel those interplays. It is also critical to investigate the metabolic endocannabinoid system while considering the panoply of functions that the endocannabinoid system fulfills in the brain and other tissues. This article aims at reviewing the potential mechanisms whereby the brain endocannabinoid system influences the regulation energy balance.
内源性大麻素系统在能量平衡调节中所起的作用目前引起了几组研究人员的极大兴趣。这种兴趣很大程度上源于迫切需要围绕目标系统（如内源性大麻素系统）开发抗肥胖和抗恶病质药物，而该系统似乎确实参与了能量平衡调节。激活后，内源性大麻素系统通过增加能量摄入和减少能量消耗来促进能量储存。该系统在肥胖状态和食物剥夺后被激活，这进一步支持了其在能量平衡调节中的真实功能。大麻素受体1型（CB1）是已确定的两种大麻素受体之一，在能量平衡脑结构中表达，这些结构也能够轻易产生或使N-花生四烯酰乙醇胺（花生四烯乙醇胺）和2-花生四烯酸甘油酯（2AG）失活，这两种是形成和释放最多的内源性大麻素。内源性大麻素系统对能量平衡的脑作用似乎至关重要，需要在食物摄入和能量消耗的稳态及享乐控制背景下进行阐释。这些控制需要下丘脑、脑干和边缘系统的协调相互作用，揭示这些相互作用似乎势在必行。在考虑内源性大麻素系统在大脑和其他组织中所发挥的一系列功能的同时，研究代谢性内源性大麻素系统也至关重要。本文旨在综述大脑内源性大麻素系统影响能量平衡调节的潜在机制。
