gms | German Medical Science

29. Wissenschaftlicher Kongress der Deutschen Hochdruckliga

Deutsche Hochdruckliga e. V. DHL ® - Deutsche Hypertonie Gesellschaft Deutsches Kompetenzzentrum Bluthochdruck

23. bis 25.11.2005, Berlin

The Peripheral Endocannabinoid System in Human Metabolic Syndrome

Das periphere Endocannabinoid-System beim Metabolischen Syndrom des Menschen

Meeting Abstract

  • S. Engeli - HELIOS Klinikum Berlin, Franz-Volhard-Klinik (Berlin, D)
  • M. Feldpausch - HELIOS Klinikum Berlin, Franz-Volhard-Klinik (Berlin, D)
  • J. Jordan - HELIOS Klinikum Berlin, Franz-Volhard-Klinik (Berlin, D)
  • J. Janke - HELIOS Klinikum Berlin, Franz-Volhard-Klinik (Berlin, D)
  • K. Gorzelniak - HELIOS Klinikum Berlin, Franz-Volhard-Klinik (Berlin, D)
  • F.C. Luft - HELIOS Klinikum Berlin, Franz-Volhard-Klinik (Berlin, D)
  • S. Batkai - NIH, National Instiute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
  • P. Pacher - NIH, National Instiute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
  • A. Sharma - McMaster University, Hamilton General Hospital, Canada

Hypertonie 2005. 29. Wissenschaftlicher Kongress der Deutschen Hochdruckliga. Berlin, 23.-25.11.2005. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2006. Doc05hochP123

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/hoch2005/05hoch123.shtml

Published: August 8, 2006

© 2006 Engeli et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

The Metabolic Syndrome is the main risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease, and abdominal obesity is the driving force for risk factor clustering. Activation of the central endocannabinoid system increases food intake and promotes weight gain. Blockade of the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor reduces body weight in animals by central and peripheral actions, but the role of the peripheral endocannabinoid system for human obesity remains largely unknown. We measured circulating endocannabinoid concentrations and studied the expression of CB1 and the main degrading enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), in adipose tissue of lean (n=20) and abdominal obese (n=20) women with the metabolic syndrome, and following 5% weight loss (n=17). Circulating levels of anandamide and 1/2-arachidonoylglycerol were increased by 35% and 52% in obese compared to lean women, respectively (p<0.05). Adipose tissue mRNA levels were reduced by -34% for CB1 and by -59% for FAAH in obese subjects (p<0.05). A negative correlation was found between FAAH expression in adipose tissue and circulating endocannabinoids. Circulating endocannabinoids and CB1 or FAAH expression were not affected by 5% weight loss. Expression of CB1 and FAAH was markedly increased in mature human adipocytes compared to preadipocytes and was found in several other human tissues related to glucose and lipid metabolism. Our findings support the presence of a peripheral endocannabinoid system that is upregulated in human abdominal obesity.