Fuel Homeostasis and the Nervous System

This book has a dual purpose, to review in depth the control of fuel homeostasis in the brain and the role of the nervous system in the control of fuel deposition in the body. From the methodological point of view the emphasis is on the application of advanced technologies to assess fuel transport and brain metabolism, the role of peptides in the neuroendocrine system and the response of the brain to hypoglycemia. These technologies include positron emmission tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance, immunocytochemistry, molecular biology, autoradiography. To study fuel homeostasis in the body advanced tracer methods that include modelling are set out. From the pathophysiological point of view the emphasis is on abnormalities in stress, brain metabolism in diabetes, eating and degenerative disorders. This book contains contributions from endocrinologists, physiologists, neurologists, psychoneuroendocrinOlogists, biophysicists, biochemists and experts in nutrition. This authorship represents a unique diversity of researchers who, for the first time, cover comprehensively the interaction between the nervous system and fuel homeostasis, both in health and disease. We hope this book will be an important source of information for both researchers and practicing clinicians. Mladen Vranic Suad Efendic Charles Hollenberg v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Symposium from which this volume arose (University of Toronto, June 27-28, 1990) was the first Toronto-Stockholm symposium on Perspectives in Diabetes Research. These Symposia are organized triennially by the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, University of Toronto and the Department of Endocrinology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.