HomeReader in Endocrinology
Márta Korbonits graduated in medicine in Budapest and worked in the Institute of Pathophysiology for 2 years before joining the Postgraduate Medical School for clinical training. She joined the Department of Endocrinology at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1991 and studied the hypothalamic regulation of growth hormone release with Prof. Ashley Grossman. She subsequently started clinical and laboratory research with growth hormone secretagogues and later with ghrelin, which formed the basis of her MD and then PhD thesis together with studies related to pituitary tumorigenesis. She received an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship in 2000 to study ghrelin physiology and genetics and turned her attention to appetite physiology and metabolism. She was promoted to Reader in 2004 received funding from the MRC, Diabetes UK, Royal Society, The Jules Thorn Foundation, as well as local funds from the CRC, JRB & RAB. She is member of the Science Committee of the Society of Endocrinology and has been elected to be a member of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland in 2006
Current research interests
Dr Korbonits main interest is ghrelin and more recently cannabinoids and the hormonal regulation of appetite and metabolism with special focus on the cellular energy sensor AMP-dependent protein kinase. Her clinical studies concentrate on appetite regulation and pituitary diseases. Her current research is focused in the following areas:
- The effect of ghrelin and cannabinoids on appetite, metabolism and cell proliferation – She described for the first time that cannabinoids regulate AMPK activity both in central and peripheral tissues. She recognised the contrasting effects of ghrelin on AMPK in the hypothalamus as well as heart, liver and adipose tissue. A possible interaction between ghrelin and cannabinoids is studied.
- Hormonal regulation of AMPK - several classical and recently-described hormones regulate AMPK activity, current laboratory and clinical studies are focusing on these.
- In collaboration with Prof Grossman she studies pituitary tumorigenesis – new pathways and regulators or possible therapeutic agents are investigated.
Publications
- B. Kola, M. Boscaro, G. A. Rutter, A. B Grossman, and M. Korbonits. Expanding role of AMPK in endocrinology. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism 2006.(In Press)
- Korbonits M, Blaine D, Elia M, Powell-Tuck J. (2005) Refeeding David Blaine-studies after a 44-day fast. N Engl J Med. 353:2306-2307.
- Kola B, Hubina E, Tucci SA, Kirkham TC, Garcia EA, Mitchell SE, Williams LM, Hawley SA, Hardie DG, Grossman AB, Korbonits M . (2005). Cannabinoids and Ghrelin Have Both Central and Peripheral Metabolic and Cardiac Effects via AMP-activated Protein Kinase. J Biol Chem. 280:25196-25201.
- Goldstone AP, Patterson M, Kalingag N, Ghatei MA, Brynes AE, Bloom SR, Grossman AB, Korbonits M . (2005). Fasting and post-prandial hyperghrelinemia in Prader-Willi syndrome is partially explained by hypoinsulinemia, and is not due to PYY deficiency or seen in hypothalamic obesity due to craniopharyngioma. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 90:2681-2690.
- Korbonits M, Goldstone AP, Gueorguiev M, Grossman AB (2004). Ghrelin - a hormone with multiple functions. Front Neuroendocrinol. 25:27-68.
- Korbonits M, Gueorguiev M, O'Grady E, Lecoeur C, Swan DC, Mein CA, Weill J, Grossman AB, Froguel P. (2002) A variation in the ghrelin gene increases weight and decreases insulin secretion in tall, obese children. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 87:4005-4008.
- Gnanapavan S, Kola B, Bustin SA, Morris DG, McGee P, Fairclough P, Bhattacharya S, Carpenter R, Grossman AB, Korbonits M (2002) The tissue distribution of the mRNA of ghrelin and subtypes of its receptor, GHS-R, in humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 87:2988-2991.
- Hayward BE, Barlier A, Korbonits M, Grossman AB, Jacquet P, Enjalbert A, Bonthron DT (2001) Imprinting of the G(s)alpha gene GNAS1 in the pathogenesis of acromegaly. J Clin Invest. 107:R31-R36
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