Abstract
During the last three to four decades the prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus has greatly increased worldwide, including in the United States. Both the short- and long-term forecasts predict serious consequences for the near future, and encourage the development of solutions for the prevention and management of obesity and diabetes mellitus. Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels were identified in tissues and organs important for the control of whole body metabolism. A variety of TRP channels has been shown to play a role in the regulation of hormone release, energy expenditure, pancreatic function, and neurotransmitter release in control, obese and/or diabetic conditions. Moreover, dietary supplementation of natural ligands of TRP channels has been shown to have potential beneficial effects in obese and diabetic conditions. These findings raised the interest and likelihood for potential drug development. In this mini-review, we discuss possibilities for better management of obesity and diabetes mellitus based on TRP-dependent mechanisms.
Highlights
The World Health Organization estimates that obesity doubled between 1980 and 2014, with 39% of adults being overweight and 13% being obese in 2014
This study revealed that both db/db and ob/ob mice have lower TRPV1 expression in their visceral adipose tissue compared with the lean controls
These findings suggest that activation of TRPV1 triggers calcium influx, and leads to prevention of adipogenesis and TRPV1 downregulation that may result in attenuation of obesity in mice kept on high fat diet (HFD)
Summary
The World Health Organization estimates that obesity doubled between 1980 and 2014, with 39% of adults being overweight and 13% being obese in 2014. Despite that TRP channels and their natural ligands received considerable attention in the field of obesity and diabetes [4,23,24,25,26,27,28], their role in many of the metabolic processes are still debated and under investigation. This mini-review summarizes findings demonstrating functional roles of TRP channels in obese and diabetic conditions
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