Morfologie en functie van de hypothalamus na glucose inname door proefpersonen voor en na het gebruik van een hoogcalorisch dieet gedurende vijf dagen.

It has long been recognized that the hypothalamus plays a crucial role in metabolism. It is thought that the hypothalamus and brain stem get input from the periphery about the available food sources and that, thereafter, efferent neuroendocrine systems come in action to regulate food intake.



Several groups have focused on the effect of glucose ingestion on blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the hypothalamus (detected by MRI). Although there have been some contradicting papers, most studies found that the BOLD signal is diminished after the ingestion of glucose.



In 1999 Matsuda et al. looked at the effect of glucose ingestion in obese people on BOLD signals in the hypothalamus. The results were compared to healthy controls. It was found that the hypothalamic (paraventricular and ventromedial nuclei) BOLD signal decreases significantly in healthy people compared to obese people.



Similarly, in healthy individuals the BOLD signal diminishes after the ingestion of a glucose load. In diabetic patients however, the BOLD signal does not decline. This suggests that the hypothalamic response in these patients is altered – which could mean that metabolic and endocrine cues about the metabolic state are erroneously interpreted in diabetic patients.



Therefore, in this study we will evaluate the hypothesis that overfeeding disrupts the hypothalamic response to glucose ingestion in healthy men.

Overfeeding disrupts the hypothalamic response to glucose ingestion in healthy men.

28-02-2009 start of study.

High caloric diet during 6 days.