Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 May;22(5):E70-6.
doi: 10.1002/oby.20728. Epub 2014 Mar 11.

Influence of dietary fat intake on the endocannabinoid system in lean and obese subjects

Stefan Engeli  1 , Anne-Christin Lehmann, Jana Kaminski, Verena Haas, Jürgen Janke, Alexander A Zoerner, Friedrich C Luft, Dimitrios Tsikas, Jens Jordan
Affiliations
Free article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Influence of dietary fat intake on the endocannabinoid system in lean and obese subjects

Stefan Engeli et al. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014 May.
Free article

Abstract

Objective: Endocannabinoid system (ECS) activation promotes obesity-associated metabolic disease. Increased dietary fat intake increases blood endocannabinoids and alters adipose and skeletal muscle ECS gene expression in human.

Methods: Two weeks isocaloric low- (LFD) and high-fat diets (HFD) in obese (n = 12) and normal-weight (n = 17) subjects in a randomized cross-over study were compared. Blood endocannabinoids were measured in the fasting condition and after food intake using mass spectrometry. Adipose and skeletal muscle gene expression was determined using real-time RT-PCR.

Results: Baseline fasting plasma endocannabinoids were similar with both diets. Anandamide decreased similarly with high- or low-fat test meals in both groups. Baseline arachidonoylglycerol plasma concentrations were similar between groups and diets, and unresponsive to eating. In subcutaneous adipose tissue, DAGL-α mRNA was upregulated and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) mRNAs were down-regulated in obese subjects, but the diets had no influence. In contrast, the HFD produced pronounced reductions in skeletal muscle CB1-R and MAGL mRNA expression, whereas obesity did not affect muscular gene expression.

Conclusions: Weight-neutral changes in dietary fat intake cannot explain excessive endocannabinoid availability in human obesity. Obesity and dietary fat intake affect ECS gene expression in a tissue-specific manner.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources