Obesity

In a scientific first, researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Diego, have generated a high-resolution metabolic “map” of how cells orchestrate glucose processing, revealing a hidden world where organelles and molecular complexes collaborate when responding to a rush of nutrients. This new study, published in Nature Communications, has redefined how glucose metabolism is visualized at the single-cell level. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that beneficial bacteria in the small intestines produce a compound that protects against obesity. Read More

A multidisciplinary team of investigators has received a 2023 Endeavor Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research to support four closely linked projects exploring the fundamental mechanisms that drive the obesity-cancer connection, Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have uncovered a potential new way to help curb the rapidly rising worldwide prevalence of metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have demonstrated that a cluster of microRNAs — small pieces of RNA that regulate gene expression — work in a type of immune cells called macrophages to help protect against metabolic defects in obesity. Read More

Vanderbilt research that promotes the anti-inflammatory pathway in macrophages could also reduce some of the bad side effects of obesity. Read More

Diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as exenatide (Byetta), are a promising and safe treatment for a rare form of obesity. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified and characterized inhibitors of an enzyme that synthesizes lipid signaling molecules with roles in energy balance, inflammation and addiction. Read More

Obesity and two post-operative complications linked with it have associated genetic variants in common, suggesting that obesity may be the culprit. Read More

Engineered bacteria that produce beneficial compounds — and that could potentially be administered in foods like yogurt — may be a future treatment for obesity and other chronic diseases. Read More

New research by Masoud Ghamari-Langroudi and colleagues has revealed that a certain brain protein called MC3R plays a role in causing the body to reset its "ideal" weight. Read More

New research by Shari Barkin shows that improving nutrition and increasing opportunities to be more active were insufficient in achieving sustained reduction in childhood obesity in poor neighborhoods. Read More

Vanderbilt scientists have discovered that a certain enzyme plays a crucial role in preventing obesity-related cardiac dysfunction. Read More

A Vanderbilt team and their international colleagues characterized for the first time a complex, little-understood cellular receptor type that, when activated, shuts off hunger. Read More

Non-exercise physical activity has a measurable energy expenditure, which goes down when animals engage in voluntary exercise, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are comparing two types of weight-loss options to determine which is the most effective in helping obese patients reach a more ideal weight before undergoing kidney transplant surgery. Read More

Rising obesity rates in several Southern states are leading to a rapid increase in new cases of diabetes among both black and white adults. A new study helmed by investigators at the University of Texas Health Science Center and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) found the risk of diabetes is double for black patients. Read More

The optimal “dose” for behavioral interventions to treat childhood obesity are not clear, Vanderbilt researchers concluded after analyzing 133 clinical trial that occurred over the course of 17 years. Read More

An enzyme in the gut – NAPE-PLD – is required for the action of signaling molecules that reduce food intake and weight gain. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of four centers receiving a $15 million, four-year research award from the American Heart Association (AHA) to provide cutting-edge research on obesity as part of its sixth Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN). Read More