Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesAnimal StudyEurope PMCOpen access

A multicomponent screen for feeding behaviour and nutritional status in Drosophila to interrogate mammalian appetite-related genes

Chalmers J., Tung YCL., Liu CH., O'Kane CJ., O'Rahilly S., Yeo GSH.

Animal Study, published in Mol Metab (2021) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.

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Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesEvidence level of this study

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

  • Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
  • Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
  • Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
  • Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
  • Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
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This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.

Study type
Animal Study
Journal
Mol Metab (2021)
Reported sample size
—
Source database
Europe PMC
PMID
33242659
PMCID
PMC7753202
DOI
10.1016/j.molmet.2020.101127
Citations
4

Abstract (original English)

Objective More than 300 genetic variants have been robustly associated with measures of human adiposity. Highly penetrant mutations causing human obesity do so largely by disrupting satiety pathways in the brain and increasing food intake. Most of the common obesity-predisposing variants are in, or near, genes expressed highly in the brain, but little is known of their function. Exploring the biology of these genes at scale in mammalian systems is challenging. We sought to establish and validate the use of a multicomponent screen for feeding behaviour phenotypes, taking advantage of the tractable model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Methods We validated a screen for feeding behaviour in Drosophila by comparing results after disrupting the expression of centrally expressed genes that influence energy balance in flies to those of 10 control genes. We then used this screen to explore the effects of disrupted expression of genes either a) implicated in energy homeostasis through human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) or b) expressed and nutritionally responsive in specific populations of hypothalamic neurons with a known role in feeding/fasting. Results Using data from the validation study to classify responses, we studied 53 Drosophila orthologues of genes implicated by human GWAS in body mass index and found that 15 significantly influenced feeding behaviour or energy ho

What this study does not prove

  • • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
  • • This is preclinical work; animal or laboratory results cannot be applied to humans.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

How we grade evidence
BrainHypothalamusNeuronsAnimalsDrosophila melanogasterObesityBody Mass IndexFeeding BehaviorAppetiteEnergy Metabolism

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