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Abstract: Obesity is considered to be one of the main and important causes of morbidity, mortality, and limited life quality. There are many reasons and theories explaining the mechanism obesity and one of these theories is the brain Dopaminergic signaling pathway. It has shown that dopamine plays a major role in obesity; it has revealed that obese subjects have limited dopamine receptors which in... read moreturn impair brain dopamine circuit and this will lead the obese subject to eat more as a compensatory mechanism to overcome the dopaminergic limitation. However, some anti-obesity medications work on the dopamine pathway and correct this defect. In this study, we examine some medication such as Topiramate and NAAA inhibitor to see if they have any role in reducing weight through the dopaminergic system. We use electrophysiological methods to examine the dopamine release from the brain striatum and compare it with the baseline release. At the end of this study, Topiramate has shown a high reduction in the dopamine release when compared with the baseline release. However, NAAA inhibitor showed the opposite. It has displayed that NAAA inhibitor increase dopamine release comparing with the baseline dopamine release. In conclusion, we are assuming that Topiramate reduces weight through a different mechanism other than increasing dopamine level. In contrast, NAAA inhibitor may show a reduction in weight through a different mechanism as well. Further investigation is needed in order to understand the link between obesity and dopaminergic signaling pathway.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2018.
Submitted to the Dept. of Pharmacology and Drug Development.
Advisor: Emmanuel Pothos.
Committee: Efi Kokkotou.
Keyword: Nanoscience.read less
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