Trial reportMetabolism: clinical and experimental2021
The response to prolonged fasting in hypothalamic serotonin transporter availability is blunted in obesity.
Trial report in Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Involvement of Serotonin in the Obesity Pathway-A Last Decade Systematic Review of the Literature.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Mechanisms of metabolic surgery effectiveness in obesity and type 2 diabetes: a puzzle with some known pieces.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Review
- The Enteric Neuronal Circuitry: A Key Ignored Player in Nutrient Sensing Along the Gut-Brain Axis.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025Review
- Effect of the 5:2 Diet on Weight Loss and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Overweight and/or Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of endocrinology · 2025Review
- Article
- The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine has direct effects on beta cells, promoting insulin secretion and increasing beta-cell mass.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2022Article
- Striatal Dopamine Transporter Availability Is Not Associated with Food Craving in Lean and Obese Humans; a Molecular Imaging Study.Brain sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsSerotonergic and dopaminergic systems in the brain are essential for homeostatic and reward-associated regulation of food intake and systemic energy metabolism. It is largely unknown how fasting influences these systems or if such effects are altered in humans with obesity. We therefore aimed to evaluate the effects of fasting on hypothalamic/thalamic serotonin transporter (SERT) and striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability in lean subjects and subjects with obesity.
methodsIn this randomized controlled cross-over trial, we assessed the effects of 12 vs 24 h of fasting on SERT and DAT availability in the hypothalamus/thalamus and striatum, respectively, using SPECT imaging in 10 lean men and 10 men with obesity.
resultsAs compared with the 12-h fast, a 24-h fast increased hypothalamic SERT availability in lean men, but not in men with obesity. We observed high inter-individual variation in the effects of fasting on thalamic SERT and striatal DAT, with no differences between lean men and those with obesity. In all subjects, fasting-induced increases in circulating free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations were associated with an increase in hypothalamic SERT availability and a decrease in striatal DAT availability. Multiple regression analysis showed that changes in plasma insulin and FFAs together accounted for 44% of the observed variation in striatal DAT availability.
conclusionLean men respond to prolonged fasting by increasing hypothalamic SERT availability, whereas this response is absent in men with obesity. Inter-individual differences in the adaptations of the cerebral serotonergic and dopaminergic systems to fasting may, in part, be explained by changes in peripheral metabolic signals of fasting, including FFAs and insulin.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.