Role of BETA-3 adrenergic receptor in lipid metabolism

• Grant number: 11/19854-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2011
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Miriam Oliveira Ribeiro
• Grantee: Bruna Pascarelli Pedrico Do Nascimento
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM). Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Obesity is associated with the development of metabolic syndrome that is characterized by a number of risk factors including insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and lipid abnormalities. The insulin resistance contributes to the accumulation of fatty acids in the liver like triglycerides, which characterizes the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), this disease comprises a number of liver disorders, and may be considered the hepatic manifestation of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Problems in facultative thermogenesis activated by the sympathetic nervous system may be involved in the development of obesity. The hypothesis of this work considers the possibility that the privation of the ²3 adrenergic receptor leads to obesity and the development of NAFLD. In order to determine the role of this isoform in the development of metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, ²3 receptor knockout mice will be subjected to a high-fat diet (40%) for 8 weeks and then will be analyzed physiological, biochemical and molecular aspects, including oxygen consumption, levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, glucose and insulin tolerance, histological analysis of liver and white adipose tissue samples and the measure of the expression of related proteins to the hepatic lipid metabolism. (AU)