Role of inflammassome in hypothalamic inflammation in response to hyperlipidic diet

• Grant number: 14/24515-2
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Licio Augusto Velloso
• Grantee: Gabriela Figueiredo Pucci
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07607-8 - OCRC - Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Obesity is due to a relative and absolute increase in adipose tissue resulting in morbidity and mortality. It is caused by a disbalance between food intake and energy expenditure and it is frequently associated with comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. The hypothalamus controls food intake and energy expenditure and, in obese individual, the frequent ingestion of saturated fat acids trigger hypothalamic inflammation releasing inflammatory cytokines. In the past few years, some studies have shown inflammatory cytokines released in the inflammation acute state. In a chronic inflammatory process a multiproteic complex is activated coordinating very important steps of intracellular inflammatory signaling pathways. This complex, named inflammasome is involved with cytokine release that controlling physiological and pathological events. Recent studies have characterized inflammasome role in inflammatory response activation in peripheral tissues of obese animal and human models, but not in hypothalamus. Thus, inflammasome role in hypothalamic inflammation due to high fat diet obesity is still unknown. In this study, we are going to evaluate the inflammasome role in hypothalamic inflammation in response to saturated fat acid.