Le rôle de la lipoprotéine lipase dans la détection cérébrale des lipides

Nowadays, obesity represents the fifth death risk factor in the world (2008 estimation from World Health Organization). In most cases, it can be explained by a deregulation of the energy balance, which is the balance between energy inputs and outputs. One of the main actors regulating the energy balance is the brain. Indeed, the brain integrates signals arising from the periphery and in turn initiates changes in food intake and energy expenditure in order to maintain the body weight along the adult life. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the role of nutritional lipids in the regulation of energy balance by the brain has been extensively investigated. Triglycerides and fatty acids are two different types of nutritional lipids. Recently, it has been shown that Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL), the primary plasma enzyme responsible for the catabolism of triglycerides contained within lipoproteins in fatty acids, was active in neurons. In the brain, LPL activity regulates lipids uptake and contributes to the regulation of the energy balance. The aim of this review is to perform an overview of what is known in the brain about the LPL and its role in the central detection of lipids and in the regulation of energy balance.