# OBESITY AND THE REGULATION OF APPETITE

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 1991 · $321,872

## Abstract

Obesity and related disturbances in the regulation of
appetite--and"diabesity", or the progressive development in many obese
adults of overt noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM)--will best
be effectively treated or prevented as the mechanisms underlying these
disorders are discovered.  This, our long-term objective, is addressed in
the present application, first through the presentation of a unique and
valuable nonhuman primate model of obesity and diabetes, with its
remarkable similarities to the human condition, and secondly through the
identification of specific aims which address the pathophysiology of two
of the earliest defects in obesity and NIDDM--insulin resistance and
hyperlipidemia.

Obesity with or without diabetes develops naturally and spontaneously in
some, but not all, adult rhesus monkeys.  The proposed studies include
cross sectional and longitudinal in vivo analyses of the sequence of
physiological defects observable in monkeys progressing from normal lean
to obese through variable phases to overt NIDDM, in combination with in
vitro determinations of rate-limiting, insulin-sensitive enzymes in
muscle, liver and adipose tissue.

We hypothesize that "insulin resistance" is not a singular process which
develops uniformly and in parallel in various organs.  Rather, our current
data indicate that the changes in vivo measurements such as glucose uptake
during a euglycemic clamp actually reflect diverse organ-specific defects,
such as changes in insulin-stimulated enzyme activity in muscle.  We will
seek to understand these defects in insulin action at the receptor level,
and in the glucose storage and oxidation pathways of liver, muscle, and
adipose tissue with studies designed to identify the nature of the defects
as well as the onset and sequence of each in the course of the development
of obesity and NIDDM.  Also, we aim to determine the nature of the
earliest defects in vivo lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, and to relate
those changes in insulin action in vivo and in adipose tissue, muscle, and
liver.

Finally, we propose to provide investigators from a wide range of
disciplines, with interests in the pathophysiology of obesity and
diabetes, the opportunity to study these well-characterized animals,while
simultaneously assuring the highest quality of care for each individual
animal.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3122522
- **Project number:** 8R01AG010612-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **SAM.gov UEI:** Z9CRZKD42ZT1
- **Principal Investigator:** BARBARA C. HANSEN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1991
- **Award amount:** $321,872
- **Award type:** 8
- **Project period:** 1986-01-01 → 1993-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3122522

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3122522, OBESITY AND THE REGULATION OF APPETITE (8R01AG010612-06). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3122522. Licensed CC0.

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