CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 1,369Stress Responses and CortisolRegulation of Appetite and ObesityEating Disorders and Behaviors

Chronic stress and obesity: a new view of “comfort food”

Open access
Dallman, Mary F., Pecoraro, Norman, Akana, Susan F., la Fleur, Susanne E., Gomez, Francisca, Houshyar, Hani, Bell, M. E., Bhatnagar, Seema +2 more·2003·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1934666100PMC PMC208820
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

The effects of adrenal corticosteroids on subsequent adrenocorticotropin secretion are complex. Acutely (within hours), glucocorticoids (GCs) directly inhibit further activity in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, but the chronic actions (across days) of these steroids on brain are directly excitatory. Chronically high concentrations of GCs act in three ways that are functionally congruent. (i) GCs increase the expression of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA in the central nucleus of the amygdala, a critical node in the emotional brain. CRF enables recruitment of a chronic stress-response network. (ii) GCs increase the salience of pleasurable or compulsive activities (ingesting sucrose, fat, and drugs, or wheel-running). This motivates ingestion of "comfort food." (iii) GCs act systemically to increase abdominal fat depots. This allows an increased signal of abdominal energy stores to inhibit catecholamines in the brainstem and CRF expression in hypothalamic neurons regulating adrenocorticotropin. Chronic stress, together with high GC concentrations, usually decreases body weight gain in rats; by contrast, in stressed or depressed humans chronic stress induces either increased comfort food intake and body weight gain or decreased intake and body weight loss. Comfort food ingestion that produces abdominal obesity, decreases CRF mRNA in the hypothalamus of rats. Depressed people who overeat have decreased cerebrospinal CRF, catecholamine concentrations, and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal activity. We propose that people eat comfort food in an attempt to reduce the activity in the chronic stress-response network with its attendant anxiety. These mechanisms, determined in rats, may explain some of the epidemic of obesity occurring in our society.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1934666100

Cites

69 of 69 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 66

  1. [1]Keller-Wood, M. E. & Dallman, M. F. (1984) Endocr. Rev. 5, 1–24. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. [2]Buwalda, B., De Boer, S. F., Schmidt, E. D., Felszeghy, K., Nyaka, C., Sgoigo, A., Van der Begt, B. J., Tilders, F. H. J., Bohus, B. & Koolhaas, J. M. (1999) J. Neuroendocrinol. 11, 512–520. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. [3]Akana, S. F. & Dallman, M. F. (1997) Endocrinology 138, 3249–3258. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. [4]Young, E. A., Kwak, S. P. & Kottak, J. (1995) J. Neuroendocrinol. 7, 37–45. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. [5]Kuipers, S. D., Trentani, A., den Boer, J. A. & Ter Horst, G. J. (2003) J. Neurochem. 85, 1312–1323. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. [6]Bhatnagar, S. & Dallman, M. F. (1998) Neuroscience 84, 1025–1039. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. [7]Bhatnagar, S., Huber, R., Nowak, N. & Trotter, P. (2002) J. Neuroendocrinol. 14, 403–410. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. [8]Bhatnagar, S., Viau, V., Chu, A., Soriano, L., Meijer, O. C. & Dallman, M. F. (2000) J. Neurosci. 20, 5564–5573. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. [9]Bhatnagar, S. & Vining, C. (2003) Horm. Behav. 43, 155–165. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. [10]Carroll, R. C. & Zukin, R. S. (2002) Trends Neurosci. 25, 571–977. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. [11]Song, I. & Huganir, R. L. (2002) Trends Neurosci. 25, 578–588. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. [12]McGaugh, J. L. (2002) Trends Neurosci. 25, 456–461. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. [13]McNally, G. P. & Akil, H. (2002) Neuroscience 12, 605–617. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. [14]Roozendaal, B., Brunson, K. L., Holloway, B. L., McGaugh, J. L. & Baram, T. Z. (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, 13908–13913. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. [16]Shepard, J. D., Barron, K. W. & Myers, D. A. (2000) Brain Res. 861, 288–295. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. [17]Shepard, J. D., Barron, K. W. & Myers, D. A. (2003) Brain Res. 963, 203–213. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. [18]Tanimura, S. M. & Watts, A. G. (2001) Peptides 22, 775–783. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. [19]Day, H. E. W., Curran, E. J., Watson, S. J., Jr., & Akil, H. (1999) J. Comp. Neurol. 413, 113–128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. [20]Erb, S., Salmaso, N., Rodaros, D. & Stewart, J. (2001) Psychopharmacology 158, 360–365. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. [21]Herman, J. P. & Cullinan, W. E. (1997) Trends Neurosci. 20, 78–83. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. [22]Curtis, A. L., Lechner, S. M., Pavcovich, L. A. & Valentino, R. J. (1997) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 281, 163–172. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. [23]Valentino, R. J., Rudoy, C., Saunders, A., Liu, X.-B. & Van Bockstaele, E. J. (2001) Neuroscience 106, 375–384. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. [24]Van Bockstaele, E. J., Bajic, D., Proudfit, H. K. & Valentino, R. J. (2001) Physiol. Behav. 73, 273–283. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. [25]Price, M. L., Kirby, L. G., Valentino, R. J. & Lucki, I. (2002) Psychopharmacology 162, 406–414. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. [26]Valentino, R. J., Louterman, L. & Van Bockstaele, E. J. (2001) J. Comp. Neurol. 435, 450–463. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. [27]Kirby, L. G., Rice, K. C. & Valentino, R. J. (2000) Neuropsychopharmacology 22, 148–162. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. [28]Felig, P., Baxter, J. D. & Frohman, L. A. (1995) Endocrinology and Metabolism (McGraw–Hill, New York).
  28. [29]Rodgers, B. D., Strack, A. M., Dallman, M. F., Hwa, L. & Nicoll, C. S. (1995) Diabetes 44, 1420–1425. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. [30]Strack, A. M., Horsley, C. J., Sebastian, R. J., Akana, S. F. & Dallman, M. F. (1995) Am. J. Physiol. 268, R1209–R1216. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. [31]Strack, A. M., Sebastian, R. J., Schwartz, M. W. & Dallman, M. F. (1995) Am. J. Physiol. 268, R142–R149. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. [32]Bell, M. E., Bhatnagar, S., Liang, J., Soriano, L., Nagy, T. R. & Dallman, M. F. (2000) J. Neuroendocrinol. 12, 461–470. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. [33]Strack, A. M., Bradbury, M. J. & Dallman, M. F. (1995) Am. J. Physiol. 268, R183–R191. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. [35]Rebuffe-Scrive, M., Walsh, U. A., McEwen, B. & Rodin, J. (1992) Physiol. Behav. 52, 583–590. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. [36]Schulkin, J., McEwen, B. S. & Gold, P. W. (1994) Neurosci. Behav. Rev. 18, 385–396. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. [37]Watts, A. G. & Sanchez-Watts, G. (1995) J. Physiol. 484, 721–736. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. [38]Bhatnagar, S., Bell, M. E., Liang, J., Soriano, L., Nagy, T. R. & Dallman, M. F. (2000) J. Neuroendocrinol. 12, 453–460. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. [39]Laugero, K. D., Bell, M. E., Bhatnagar, S., Soriano, L. & Dallman, M. F. (2001) Endocrinology 142, 2796–2804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. [40]Laugero, K. D., Gomez, F., Siao, D. & Dallman, M. F. (2002) Endocrinology 143, 4552–4562. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. [41]Sawchenko, P. E., Li, H.-Y. & Ericsson, A. (2000) Prog. Brain Res. 122, 61–78. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. [42]Goeders, N. E. (2002) Psychoneuroendocrinology 27, 13–33. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. [43]Piazza, P. V. & Le Moal, M. (1997) Brain Res. Rev. 25, 359–372. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. [44]Moberg, G. P. & Clark, C. R. (1976) Physiol. Behav. 4, 617–619. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. [45]Leshner, A. I. (1971) Physiol. Behav. 6, 551–558. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. [46]Bell, M. E., Bhargava, A., Soriano, L., Laugero, K., Akana, S. F. & Dallman, M. F. (2002) J. Neuroendocrinol. 14, 330–342. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. [47]Levin, B. E., Richard, D., Michel, C. & Servatius, R. (2000) Am. J. Physiol. 279, R1357–R1364. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. [48]Minor, T. R. & Saade, S. (1997) Biol. Psychiatry 42, 324–334. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. [49]Dess, N. K. (1992) Physiol. Behav. 52, 115–125. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. [50]Dess, N. K. (1997) Learn. Motivat. 28, 342–356. [Google Scholar]
  49. [51]Berridge, K. C. & Robinson, T. E. (1998) Brain Res. Rev. 28, 309–369. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. [52]Stunkard, A. J. & Allison, K. C. (2003) Int. J. Obesity 27, 1–12. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. [53]Stunkard, A. J., Grace, W. J. & Wolff, H. G. (1955) Am. J. Med. 19, 78–86. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. [54]Birketvedt, G. S., Florholmen, J., Sundsfjord, J., Osterud, B., Dinges, D., Bilker, W. & Stunkard, A. (1999) J. Am. Med. Assoc. 282, 657–663. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. [55]Neudeck, P., Jacoby, G. E. & Florin, I. (2001) Physiol. Behav. 72, 93–98. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. [56]Gold, P. W., Gwittsman, H. E., Aveignie, P. C., Nieman, L. K., Galluci, W. T., Kaye, W. H., Jimerson, D., Ebert, M., Rittmaster, R., Loriaux, D. L., et al. (1986) N. Engl. J. Med. 314, 1335–1342. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. [57]Mayo-Smith, W., Hayes, C. W., Biller, M. K., Klibanski, A., Rosenthal, H. & Rosenthal, D. I. (1989) Radiology 170, 515–518. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. [58]Gold, P. W. & Chrousos, G. P. (1998) Proc. Assoc. Am. Physicians 111, 22–34. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. [59]Parker, G., Roy, K., Mitchell, P., Wilhelm, K., Malhi, G. & Hadzi-Pavlovic, D. (2002) Am. J. Psychiatry 159, 1470–1479. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  58. [60]Young, E. A., Carlson, N. E. & Brown, M. B. (2001) Neuropsychopharmacology 25, 267–276. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  59. [61]Deuschle, M., Schweiger, U., Weber, B., Gotthardt, U., Korner, A., Schmider, J., Standhardt, H., Lammers, C.-H. & Heuser, I. (1997) J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 82, 234–328. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  60. [62]Linkowski, P., Meldelwicz, J., Leclercq, R., Brasseur, M., Hubain, P., Golstein, J., Copinschi, G. & Van Cauter, E. (1985) J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 61, 429–438. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  61. [63]Wilkinson, C. W., Peskind, E. R. & Raskind, M. A. (1997) Neuroendocrinology 65, 79–90. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  62. [64]Wong, M. L., Kling, M. A., Munson, A. J., Listwak, S., Licinio, J., Prolo, P., Karp, B., McCutcheon, I. E., Geracioti, T. D., Jr., DeBellis, M. D., et al. (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 325–330. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  63. [65]Roy, A., Pickar, D., Linnoila, M., Chrousos, G. P. & Gold, P. W. (1987) Psychiatry Res. 20, 229–237. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  64. [66]Zimmerman, U., Kraus, T., Himmerich, H., Sckuld, A. & Pollmacher, T. (2003) J. Psychiatr. Res. 37, 193–220. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  65. [67]Mokdad, A. H., Serdula, M. K., Dietz, W. H., Bowman, B. A., Marks, J. S. & Koplan, J. P. (2000) J. Am. Med. Assoc. 284, 1650–1651. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  66. [68]Cannetti, L., Bachar, E. & Berry, E. M. (2002) Behav. Processes 60, 157–164. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Dallman, M. F., Pecoraro, N., Akana, S. F., la Fleur, S. E., Gomez, F., Houshyar, H., Bell, M. E., Bhatnagar, S., Laugero, K. D., & Manalo, S.
Affiliations
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
  • Department of Physiology and Neuroscience Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0444
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2003-09-15
Volume
100
Issue
20
Pages
11696-11701
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1934666100
PMC
PMC208820
OpenAlex
W2172157844
Cited by
1,369
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 37 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 61 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 72 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 80 · 2018: 59 · 2017: 65 · 2016: 90 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 92 · 2013: 81 · 2012: 71
FWCI
13.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (F32-DA14143, F32DA014143, F32-DA14159, F32DA014159)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK028172, R37DK028172)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
Keywords
chronic stress, obesity, comfort food, glucocorticoids, corticotropin-releasing factor, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, central amygdala, abdominal fat, food reward, depression, anxiety, catecholamines, weight gain
MeSH terms
Adrenal Glands, Adrenalectomy, Animals, Chronic Disease, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Glucocorticoids, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Obesity, Pituitary-Adrenal System, RNA, Messenger, Stress, Psychological, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review