Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences

1. The neural regulation of appetite, food intake and energy homeostasis.

(i) Leptin as a short-term peripheral satiety factor.
(ii) Central GABA-B receptors and the regulation of short-term food intake and long term energy homeostasis.
(iii) We are also investigating the roles of glutamate and 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) in the regulation of food intake.

2. Understanding the neural mechanisms involved in the control of fluid intake (e.g. Houston, A.J., Wong, J.C.L. and Ebenezer, I.S. (2012) Eur. J. Pharmacol., 674, 327-331),

3. Developing methods to assess potential antidepressant activity in novel pharmacological compounds (e.g. Burki, U.A. and Ebenezer, I.S. (2010) Proc. Br. Pharmacol. Soc. @htpp:/www.pA2online.org/abstract/Vol18Issue1abstP77P.pdf),

4. Investigating the roles of alternative methods, such as reflexology, in the treatment of pain (e.g. Samuel, C.A. and Ebenezer, I.S. (2013) Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, in press)

European Union InterReg TransChannel Neuroscience Network.

We have recently been successful in being awarded funding from the European Union Inter Reg TransChannel Neuroscience Network (TC2N) at the University of Portsmouth. Under the TC2N label of the “Metabolism and Obesity Group”, we are collaborating with Professor Sergueï O. Fetissov and his colleagues at Institute for Research and Innovation in Biomedicine (IRIB), Rouen University in Rouen, France. The main focus of the collaborative research is on (i) the role of GABA in the regulation of feeding (see above) and (ii) the role that auto-antibodies generated to gut bacteria may play in the genesis of obesity. The hypothesis is that these auto-antibodies cross-react with the neuropeptides that regulate feeding and can result in metabolic disorders and obesity.  Members of the group at the University of Portsmouth are Dr. Ivor Ebenezer (Group Leader), Dr. Rasneer Bains (Post-doctoral Research Associate), Dr. Janis Shute, Dr. Jerome Swinny and Mr Richard Tite.