Neuroendocrine Responses to Starvation and Weight Loss

Abstract

The inability to consume enough calories to meet energy requirements is a common threat to survival. To meet this danger, animals retard their fuel depletion by lowering their metabolic rate and changing fuel substrates. They also stimulate their feeding behavior and defer the high energy cost of reproduction by suppressing gonadal function. We are now beginning to understand the physiologic basis of these responses.Historical BackgroundEarly investigators^1,2 established that after the first few days of starvation, free fatty acids and ketone bodies, rather than glucose, become the predominant fuels. The adaptive value of this switch derives from the . . .