Partitioning the variance in calorie restriction-induced weight and fat loss in outbred mice

Funding agencies: LMV was funded by a Rubicon grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO, 825.08.014). This work was supported by BBSRC grant BB/G009953/1.Peer reviewedPostprin

The relationship of female physical attractiveness to body fatness

Funding This work was supported by NSFC grant 91431102 from the National Science Foundation of China. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgements We are grateful to all the participants from all the countries and all the members of Molecular Energetics Group for their help on the investigation and discussion of the results.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Different impacts of resources on opposite sex ratings of physical attractiveness by males and females

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC grant 91431102) and International Cooperation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (GJHZ1660). John R. Speakman was supported by the 1000 talents program of the Chinese government and a Wolfson merit award from the Royal Society. Guanlin Wang was awarded by the UCAS-UoA dual degree PhD training Program.Peer reviewedPostprin

Low Citrate Synthase Activity Is Associated with Glucose Intolerance and Lipotoxicity

This work was supported by Saudi Ministry of Higher Education Grant (to Y.A.), NHS Grampian Endowment Grant (no. 12/21) (to A.R. and S.R.G.), Kuwait Ministry of Health grant (to M.A.T.), and European Social Fund under the Global Grant Measure (VP1-3.1-ŠMM-07-K-02-057) (to A.L. and A.R.). The authors thank Shona Fleming of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, for the technical assistance during their study. The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request. A corrigendum for this article has been published.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Oxidative costs of reproduction in mouse strains selected for different levels of food intake and which differ in reproductive performance

We are grateful to the animal house staff for their care of the animals. This work was supported in part by the US National Institute of Health grants R01AG043972 to J.R.S. and D.B.A. and P30AG050886 and P30DK056336 to D.B.A. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the N.I.H. or any other organization. A.H.A.J. was supported by an Iraqi government student scholarship.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Reduction in BACE1 decreases body weight, protects against diet-induced obesity and enhances insulin sensitivity in mice

Insulin resistance and impaired glucose homoeostasis are important indicators of Type 2 diabetes and are early risk factors of AD (Alzheimer's disease). An essential feature of AD pathology is the presence of BACE1 (β-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1), which regulates production of toxic amyloid peptides. However, whether BACE1 also plays a role in glucose homoeostasis is presently unknown. We have used transgenic mice to analyse the effects of loss of BACE1 on body weight, and lipid and glucose homoeostasis. BACE1−/− mice are lean, with decreased adiposity, higher energy expenditure, and improved glucose disposal and peripheral insulin sensitivity than wild-type littermates. BACE1−/− mice are also protected from diet-induced obesity. BACE1-deficient skeletal muscle and liver exhibit improved insulin sensitivity. In a skeletal muscle cell line, BACE1 inhibition increased glucose uptake and enhanced insulin sensitivity. The loss of BACE1 is associated with increased levels of UCP1 (uncoupling protein 1) in BAT (brown adipose tissue) and UCP2 and UCP3 mRNA in skeletal muscle, indicative of increased uncoupled respiration and metabolic inefficiency. Thus BACE1 levels may play a critical role in glucose and lipid homoeostasis in conditions of chronic nutrient excess. Therefore strategies that ameliorate BACE1 activity may be important novel approaches for the treatment of diabetes

Active travelling to school is not associated with increased total daily physical activity levels, or reduced obesity and cardiovascular/pulmonary health parameters in 10–12-year olds : a cross-sectional cohort study

Funding This work was supported by a grant from the Scottish Government Chief Scientist’s office grant CZH/4/458 b awarded to FFS and JRS. JRS was supported by a Wolfson merit award. Author information These authors contributed equally: Xueying Zhang, Nathan A. SmithPeer reviewedPostprin

β-Endorphin modulates the acute response to a social conflict in male mice but does not play a role in stress-induced changes in sleep

β-Endorphin is an endogenous opioid peptide that is released during stress and has been associated with many physiological functions. In this experiment β-endorphin deficient mice were used to study the role of endorphins in the acute physiological and behavioral responses to a social conflict, as well as their role in social stress-induced changes in sleep. Adult male β-endorphin deficient and wild type mice were subjected to the stress of a 1 h social conflict with an aggressive dominant conspecific. After the conflict, the β-endorphin deficient mice had higher corticosterone levels but the peak increase in body temperature was not different from that in wild type animals. In fact, body temperature returned to baseline levels faster in the β-endorphin deficient mice. During their interaction with the aggressive conspecific several of the β-endorphin deficient mice showed clear signs of counter aggression whereas this was not seen in any of the wild type mice. Overall, the β-endorphin deficient mice and wild type mice had fairly similar sleep patterns under baseline conditions and also showed similar amounts of NREM sleep, REM sleep and EEG slow-wave energy after the social conflict. In addition, no differences were found in the sleep patterns of mice that showed counter aggression and mice that did not. In conclusion, the results suggest that β-endorphin modulates the acute endocrine, thermoregulatory and behavioral response to a social conflict but the data do not support a major role for β-endorphin in the regulation of sleep or social stress-induced alterations in sleep.