Sex differences in the physiology of eating

Abstract

(HPG) axis function fundamentally affects the physiology of eating. We review sex differences in the physiological and pathophysiological controls of amounts eaten in rats, mice, monkeys, and humans. These controls result from interactions among genetic effects, organizational effects of reproductive hormones (i.e., permanent early developmental effects), and activational effects of these hormones (i.e., effects dependent on hormone levels). Male-female sex differences in the physiology of eating involve both organizational and activational effects of androgens and estrogens. An activational effect of estrogens decreases eating 1) during the periovulatory period of the ovarian cycle in rats, mice, monkeys, and women and 2) tonically between puberty and reproductive senescence or ovariectomy in rats and monkeys, sometimes in mice, and possibly in women. Estrogens acting on estrogen receptor-␣ (ER␣) in the caudal medial nucleus of the solitary tract appear to mediate these effects in rats. Androgens, prolactin, and other reproductive hormones also affect eating in rats. Sex differences in eating are mediated by alterations in orosensory capacity and hedonics, gastric mechanoreception, ghrelin, CCK, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucagon, insulin, amylin, apolipoprotein A-IV, fatty-acid oxidation, and leptin. The control of eating by central neurochemical signaling via serotonin, MSH, neuropeptide Y, Agouti-related peptide (AgRP), melanin-concentrating hormone, and dopamine is modulated by HPG function. Finally, sex differences in the physiology of eating may contribute to human obesity, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating. The variety and physiological importance of what has been learned so far warrant intensifying basic, translational, and clinical research on sex differences in eating.neuroendocrinology; estrogens; testosterone; eating disorders; obesity SEX DIFFERENCES ARE PERVASIVE in physiology and medicine (51,64,73,109,110,466,797,826). The controls of eating and energy homeostasis are no exceptions. It was observed approximately 100 years ago that removal of the ovaries leads to marked accretion of adipose tissue in rats (697), that daily food intake expressed as kilocalories per gram body weight differs between male and female rats (778), and that food intake varies regularly through the ovarian cycle in intact female rats (674, 779). Sex differences in eating have been the subject of physiological research ever since. The clinical relevance of this work is increasingly evident. In the United States, women are approximately threefold more vulnerable than men to psychiatric eating disorders (346,351) and approximately twofold more vulnerable to severe and morbid obesity (BMI Ն 35 and 40 kg/m 2 , respectively, mass/height 2 ) (226). Women also appear to suffer more from these disorders in terms of physical and psychological functioning and quality of life (24,84,273,292,465,531,762). The increased obesity burden suffered by women is reflected in the fact that Ͼ80% of bariatric surgery patients in the U...

Glial cells and energy balance

“…In this line, women undergo fluctuations in food intake depending on the phase of their menstrual cycle, for example, eating less during the periovulatory days, when estradiol concentrations are highest (Barr et al 1995, Buffenstein et al 1995, Davidsen et al 2007). This phenomenon has also been demonstrated in female rodents (Tarttelin & Gorski 1971, Asarian & Geary 2013, sustaining the association between estradiol concentrations and food intake. Moreover, in response to HFD consumption, female rats gain less weight than males, but this differential response is no longer observed after ovariectomy (Stubbins et al 2012), which is similar to the tendency for postmenopausal women to increase their body weight as their estrogen levels decrease (Brown et al 2010, Hamilton et al 2016.…”

Fat and lean tissue accretion in relation to reward motivation in children

“…Literature suggests that biological factors may play a role. For example, patterns of neural activation to palatable food-cues differ by sex (Asarian & Geary, 2013;Atalayer et al, 2014;Uher, Treasure, Heining, Brammer, & Campbell, 2006). Another example is that the distribution of fat and lean mass changes differentially in boys and girls during growth; e.g.…”

Wydzielanie serotoniny i melatoniny u kobiet po menopauzie z zaburzeniami odżywiania

“…Changes in appetite are more common in women than in men, which points to a significant effect of oestrogens on the physiology of eating [43]. Oestrogen deficiency after menopause and the associated reduction in the synthesis of serotonin can also be the cause of emotional disorders [44].…”