Table 3.
Characterization of nAChRs associated to obesity.
| Localization | Species | nAChRs (gene) | Comments | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central nervous system | Human | α7 (CHRNA7) α/β (CHRNA1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and CHRNB1, 2, 3, 4) |
Associated to the energetic metabolism regulation | Jo et al., 2002 |
| Rat | α3 (Chrna3) β4 (Chrnb4) |
Distributed in both the peripheral and central nervous system. Associated to food intake regulation | Dwyer et al., 2008 | |
| Mice | α4,7 (Chrna4, 7) β2 (Chrnb2) |
Express in hypothalamus regulating appetite, food consumption, and body mass | Jo and Role, 2002 | |
| α3 (Chrna3) β4 (Chrnb4) |
Regulates food intake | Mineur et al., 2011 | ||
| Adipose tissue | Human | α7 (CHRNA7) | Gene expression is reduced in obese individuals | Cancello et al., 2012 |
| α2 (CHRNA2) | Gene expression is associated to overweight/obesity | Kim, 2008 | ||
| α3–5 (CHRNA3,4,5) | Associated to alteration on BMI | Freathy et al., 2011; Zhu et al., 2013 | ||
| α3, 5 (CHRNA3,5) β3, 4 (CHRNB3,4) | Associated to abdominal obesity | Zhu et al., 2014 | ||
| Rat | α1–7, 9, 10 (Chrna 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) β1–4 (Chrnb1, 2, 3,4) δ (Chrnd) ε (Chrne) |
Promote nicotine-induced adipocytes adiponectin and FFA release | Liu et al., 2004 | |
| Mice | α2 (Chrna2) β1–2 (Chrnb1,2) | Alterations in lean body mass and fat storage | Somm et al., 2014 |