Dataset Information

Brain reward responses to food stimuli among female monozygotic twins discordant for BMI.

ABSTRACT: Obese individuals are characterized by altered brain reward responses to food. Despite the latest discovery of obesity-associated genes, the contribution of environmental and genetic factors to brain reward responsiveness to food remains largely unclear. Sixteen female monozygotic twin pairs with a mean BMI discordance of 3.96 ± 2.1 kg/m2 were selected from the Netherlands Twin Register to undergo functional MRI scanning while watching high- and low-calorie food and non-food pictures and during the anticipation and receipt of chocolate milk. In addition, appetite ratings, eating behavior and food intake were assessed using visual analog scales, validated questionnaires and an ad libitum lunch. In the overall group, visual and taste stimuli elicited significant activation in regions of interest (ROIs) implicated in reward, i.e. amygdala, insula, striatum and orbitofrontal cortex. However, when comparing leaner and heavier co-twins no statistically significant differences in ROI-activations were observed after family wise error correction. Heavier versus leaner co-twins reported higher feelings of hunger (P = 0.02), cravings for sweet food (P = 0.04), body dissatisfaction (P < 0.05) and a trend towards more emotional eating (P = 0.1), whereas caloric intake was not significantly different between groups (P = 0.3). Our results suggest that inherited rather than environmental factors are largely responsible for the obesity-related altered brain responsiveness to food. Future studies should elucidate the genetic variants underlying the susceptibility to reward dysfunction and obesity. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:NCT02025595.

SUBMITTER: Doornweerd S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5990553 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Brain reward responses to food stimuli among female monozygotic twins discordant for BMI.

Doornweerd Stieneke S De Geus Eco J EJ Barkhof Frederik F Van Bloemendaal Liselotte L Boomsma Dorret I DI Van Dongen Jenny J Drent Madeleine L ML Willemsen Gonneke G Veltman Dick J DJ IJzerman Richard G RG

Brain imaging and behavior 20180601 3

Obese individuals are characterized by altered brain reward responses to food. Despite the latest discovery of obesity-associated genes, the contribution of environmental and genetic factors to brain reward responsiveness to food remains largely unclear. Sixteen female monozygotic twin pairs with a mean BMI discordance of 3.96 ± 2.1 kg/m<sup>2</sup> were selected from the Netherlands Twin Register to undergo functional MRI scanning while watching high- and low-calorie food and non-food pictures ...[more]

PMID: 28597337

Similar Datasets

Project description:Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune chronic cholestatic liver disease with a strong genetic susceptibility due to the high concordance in monozygotic (MZ) twins and a striking female predominance. Women with PBC manifest an enhanced X monosomy rate in peripheral lymphocytes and we thus hypothesized an X chromosome epigenetic component to explain PBC female prevalence. While most genes on the female inactive X chromosome are silenced by promoter methylation following X chromosome inactivation (XCI), approximately 10% of X- linked genes exhibit variable escape from XCI in healthy females. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that susceptibility to PBC is modified by one or more X-linked gene with variable XCI status. Peripheral blood mRNA and DNA samples were obtained from a unique cohort of MZ twin sets discordant and concordant for PBC. Transcript levels of the 125 variable XCI status genes was determined by quantitative RT-PCR analysis and two genes (CLIC2 and PIN4) were identified as consistently downregulated in the affected twin of discordant pairs. Both CLIC2 and PIN4 demonstrated partial and variable methylation of CpG sites within 300 bp of the transcription start site that did not predict the XCI status. Promoter methylation of CLIC2 manifested no significant difference between samples and no significant correlation with transcript levels. PIN4 methylation showed a positive trend with transcription in all samples but no differential methylation was observed between discordant twins. A genetic polymorphism affecting the number of CpG sites in the PIN4 promoter did not impact methylation or transcript levels in a heterozygous twin pair and showed a similar frequency in independent series of unrelated PBC cases and controls. Our results suggest that epigenetic factors influencing PBC onset are more complex than methylation differences at X-linked promoters and variably 3 inactivated X-linked genes may be characterized by partial promoter methylation and biallelic transcription.

Dataset Information

Brain reward responses to food stimuli among female monozygotic twins discordant for BMI.

Publications

Brain reward responses to food stimuli among female monozygotic twins discordant for BMI.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets