Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Georgetown University Medical Center Washington, DC, USA.
Front Neurosci. 2013 Mar 21;7:37. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00037. eCollection 2013.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a potent regulator of neuronal development and synaptic plasticity that is fundamental to neural circuit formation and cognition. It is also involved in the control of appetite and body weight, with mutations in the genes for BDNF and its receptor, TrkB, resulting in remarkable hyperphagia and severe obesity in humans and mice. Recent studies have made significant progress in elucidating the source, action sites, and regulatory pathways of BDNF with regard to its role in the control of energy homeostasis, and have shed light on the relationships between BDNF and other molecules involved in the control of body weight. Here we provide a comprehensive review of evidence from pharmacological, genetic, and mechanistic studies, linking BDNF to the control of body weight. This review also aims to organize the main findings on this subject into a more refined framework and to discuss the future research directions necessary to advance the field.
脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）是一种强有力的神经元发育和突触可塑性调节剂，对神经回路形成和认知至关重要。它还参与食欲和体重的控制，BDNF 及其受体 TrkB 的基因突变会导致人类和小鼠出现明显的多食症和严重肥胖。最近的研究在阐明 BDNF 在能量平衡控制中的作用的来源、作用部位和调节途径方面取得了重大进展，并揭示了 BDNF 与其他参与体重控制的分子之间的关系。在这里，我们提供了一个全面的综述，从药理学、遗传学和机制研究的角度，将 BDNF 与体重控制联系起来。本综述还旨在将关于这一主题的主要发现组织到一个更精细的框架中，并讨论推进该领域所需的未来研究方向。
