Laboratory of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal University of São João del-Rei, Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Peptides. 2013 Jul;45:9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2013.04.010. Epub 2013 Apr 26.
The basic mechanisms that lead obesity are not fully understood; however, several peptides undoubtedly play a role in regulating body weight. Obesity, a highly complex metabolic disorder, involves central mechanisms that control food intake and energy expenditure. Previous studies have shown that central or peripheral oxytocin administration induces anorexia. Recently, in an apparent discrepancy, rodents that were deficient in oxytocin or the oxytocin receptor were shown to develop late-onset obesity without changing their total food intake, which indicates the physiological importance of oxytocin to body metabolism. Oxytocin is synthesized not only within magnocellular and parvocellular neurons but also in several organs, including the ovary, uterus, placenta, testis, thymus, kidney, heart, blood vessels, and skin. The presence of oxytocin receptors in neurons, the myometrium and myoepithelial cells is well recognized; however, this receptor has also been identified in other tissues, including the pancreas and adipose tissue. The oxytocin receptor is a typical class I G protein-coupled receptor that is primarily linked to phospholipase C-β via Gq proteins but can also be coupled to other G proteins, leading to different functional effects. In this review, we summarize the present knowledge of the effects of oxytocin on controlling energy metabolism, focusing primarily on the role of oxytocin on appetite regulation, thermoregulation, and metabolic homeostasis.
导致肥胖的基本机制尚未完全阐明；然而，几种肽无疑在调节体重方面发挥作用。肥胖是一种高度复杂的代谢紊乱，涉及控制食物摄入和能量消耗的中枢机制。先前的研究表明，中枢或外周给予催产素会导致厌食。最近，一项明显的差异表明，缺乏催产素或催产素受体的啮齿动物会出现迟发性肥胖，而不会改变其总食物摄入量，这表明催产素对身体代谢具有重要的生理意义。催产素不仅在大细胞和小细胞神经元中合成，而且在包括卵巢、子宫、胎盘、睾丸、胸腺、肾脏、心脏、血管和皮肤在内的几个器官中合成。神经元、子宫平滑肌和肌上皮细胞中存在催产素受体是众所周知的；然而，该受体也已在其他组织中被鉴定出来，包括胰腺和脂肪组织。催产素受体是一种典型的 I 类 G 蛋白偶联受体，主要通过 Gq 蛋白与磷脂酶 C-β 相连，但也可以与其他 G 蛋白相连，从而产生不同的功能效应。在这篇综述中，我们总结了目前关于催产素对控制能量代谢的影响的知识，主要集中在催产素对食欲调节、体温调节和代谢稳态的作用上。
