Loss of autophagy in hypothalamic neurons may be involved in the pathogenesis of obesity

In light of the increasing prevalence of obesity, which has become a major public health concern worldwide, there is great incentive to better understand the cellular processes and molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of body weight. Autophagy is an intracellular catabolic process that contributes to cell and tissue homeostasis through the turnover of cytoplasmic material. Importantly, defects in autophagy in the hypothalamus, a brain region critical to body weight regulation, have been linked to obesity and obesity-related comorbidities, including diabetes. In this chapter, we discuss the effects of dysfunctional hypothalamic autophagy on body weight and on the development of obesity-associated metabolic complications.