And we found it: Astrocytes in the hypothalami of obese rats and mice were enlarged, and their filaments were tangled together in a thick mat. Microglia had also enlarged and multiplied. Both changes were specifically located in the same area as NPY and POMC neurons (the arcuate nucleus), but not elsewhere. Our results suggest that obese rodents suffer from a mild form of brain injury in an area of the brain that’s critical for regulating food intake and adiposity. Not only that, but the injury response and inflammation that developed when animals were placed on a fattening diet preceded the
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