Higher body mass index is linked to altered hypothalamic microstructure

Thomas, Kevin; Beyer, Frauke; Lewe, Gesa; Zhang, Rui; Schindler, Stephanie; Schönknecht, P.; Stumvoll, M.; Villringer, Arno; Witte, A. Veronica

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53578-4

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Higher body mass index is linked to altered hypothalamic microstructure

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Thomas, Kevin
Department Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;
Collaborative Research Center Obesity Mechanisms, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Leipzig, Germany;

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Beyer, Frauke
Department Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;
Collaborative Research Center Obesity Mechanisms, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Leipzig, Germany;

Lewe, Gesa
Department Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

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Zhang, Rui
Department Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

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Schindler, Stephanie
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Leipzig, Germany;
Department Neurophysics (Weiskopf), MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;

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Villringer, Arno
Department Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;
Collaborative Research Center Obesity Mechanisms, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Leipzig, Germany;
Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Germany;
Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases (LIFE), University of Leipzig, Germany;

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Witte, A. Veronica
Department Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Society;
Collaborative Research Center Obesity Mechanisms, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Leipzig, Germany;

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Citation

Thomas, K., Beyer, F., Lewe, G., Zhang, R., Schindler, S., Schönknecht, P., et al. (2019). Higher body mass index is linked to altered hypothalamic microstructure. Scientific Reports, 9: 17373. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53578-4.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-4CC5-8

Abstract

Animal studies suggest that obesity-related diets induce structural changes in the hypothalamus, a key brain area involved in energy homeostasis. Whether this translates to humans is however largely unknown. Using a novel multimodal approach with manual segmentation, we here show that a higher body mass index (BMI) selectively predicted higher proton diffusivity within the hypothalamus, indicative of compromised microstructure in the underlying tissue, in a well-characterized population-based cohort (n1 = 338, 48% females, age 21–78 years, BMI 18–43 kg/m²). Results were independent from confounders and confirmed in another independent sample (n2 = 236). In addition, while hypothalamic volume was not associated with obesity, we identified a sexual dimorphism and larger hypothalamic volumes in the left compared to the right hemisphere. Using two large samples of the general population, we showed that a higher BMI specifically relates to altered microstructure in the hypothalamus, independent from confounders such as age, sex and obesity-associated co-morbidities. This points to persisting microstructural changes in a key regulatory area of energy homeostasis occurring with excessive weight. Our findings may help to better understand the pathomechanisms of obesity and other eating-related disorders.