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MC4R Desensitization

Meaning

MC4R Desensitization is a specific physiological process where the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R), a crucial receptor in the hypothalamus involved in regulating appetite and energy expenditure, becomes less responsive to its stimulating ligands, primarily alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH). This reduction in receptor sensitivity is a form of cellular adaptation that can lead to impaired satiety signaling, resulting in increased food intake and subsequent weight gain. Understanding this desensitization is key in the clinical management of certain forms of genetic and acquired obesity that involve central melanocortin pathway dysfunction. It represents a failure of the central signaling mechanism for energy balance.