Ryan, K.K.* ; Packard, A.E.B.* ; Larson, K.R.* ; Stout, J.* ; Fourman, S.M.* ; Thompson, A.M.K.* ; Ludwick, K.* ; Habegger, K.M.* ; Stemmer, K. ; Itoh, N.* ; Perez-Tilve, D.* ; Tschöp, M.H. ; Seeley, R.J.* ; Ulrich-Lai, Y.M.*
     
    
        
Dietary manipulations that induce ketosis activate the HPA axis in male rats and mice: A potential role for fibroblast growth factor-21.
    
    
        
    
    
        
        Endocrinology 159, 400-413 (2018)
    
    
    
      
      
	
	    Endocrine Society. In response to an acute threat to homeostasis or well-being, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis is engaged. A major outcome of this HPA axis activation is the mobilization of stored energy, to fuel an appropriate behavioral and/or physiological response to the perceived threat. Importantly, the extent of HPA axis activity is thought to be modulated by an individual’s nutritional environment. In this study, we report that nutritional manipulations signaling a relative depletion of dietary carbohydrates, thereby inducing nutritional ketosis, acutely and chronically activate the HPA axis. Male rats and mice maintained on a low-carbohydrate high-fat ketogenic diet (KD) exhibited canonical markers of chronic stress, including increased basal and stress-evoked plasma corticosterone, increased adrenal sensitivity to adrenocorticotropin hormone, increased stress-evoked c-Fos immunolabeling in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, and thymic atrophy, an indicator of chronic glucocorticoid exposure. Moreover, acutely feeding medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) to rapidly induce ketosis among chow-fed male rats and mice also acutely increased HPA axis activity. Lastly, and consistent with a growing literature that characterizes the hepatokine fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21) as both a marker of the ketotic state and as a key metabolic stress hormone, the HPA response to both KD and MCTs was significantly blunted among mice lacking FGF21. We conclude that dietary manipulations that induce ketosis lead to increased HPA axis tone, and that the hepatokine FGF21 may play an important role to facilitate this effect.
	
	
	    
	
       
      
	
	    
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        Publication type
        Article: Journal article
    
 
    
        Document type
        Scientific Article
    
 
    
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        Keywords
        Pituitary-adrenal Axis; Medium-chain Triglycerides; Low-fat Diet; Chronic Stress; Ketogenic Diet; Low-carbohydrate; C-fos; Psychological Stress; Glucose-homeostasis; Energy-expenditure
    
 
    
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        Language
        english
    
 
    
        Publication Year
        2018
    
 
    
        Prepublished in Year
        2017
    
 
    
        HGF-reported in Year
        2017
    
 
    
    
        ISSN (print) / ISBN
        0013-7227
    
 
    
        e-ISSN
        1945-7170
    
 
    
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	    Volume: 159,  
	    Issue: 1,  
	    Pages: 400-413 
	    Article Number: ,  
	    Supplement: ,  
	
    
 
    
        
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            Endocrine Society
        
 
        
            Publishing Place
            Chevy Chase, Md.
        
 
	
        
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        Reviewing status
        Peer reviewed
    
 
     
    
        POF-Topic(s)
        90000 - German Center for Diabetes Research
30201 - Metabolic Health
    
 
    
        Research field(s)
        Helmholtz Diabetes Center
    
 
    
        PSP Element(s)
        G-501900-221
G-502200-001
    
 
    
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        Erfassungsdatum
        2017-11-14