Leptin News and Research

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Leptin is a 16 kDa protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. It is one of the most important adipose derived hormones. The ''Ob(Lep)'' gene (Ob for obese, Lep for leptin) is located on chromosome 7 in humans.

Leptin's fat-burning role in humans

For nearly a decade, scientists have known that leptin plays an important fat-burning role in humans. But the map of leptin's path through the body – the key to understanding how and why the hormone works – is still incomplete.

27 Jul 2004

U-M scientists say Wnt protein prevents obesity by inhibiting fat cell development

Genetically engineered mice, created at the University of Michigan Medical School, are living every dieter's dream.

29 Jun 2004

RNA enzyme research may lead to ways of monitoring fat metabolism and might even assist in the search for signs of life on Mars

Research aimed at teasing apart the workings of RNA enzymes eventually may lead to ways of monitoring fat metabolism and might even assist in the search for signs of life on Mars, according to University of Michigan researcher Nils Walter.

29 Jun 2004

Nighttime surge of ghrelin may point to new targets for treating obesity

UCLA scientists have discovered that lean people experience a huge nighttime surge of ghrelin — the hormone that stimulates hunger — but obese people do not.

29 Jun 2004

Fat hormone leptin affects a specific type of target neurons in the brain

Nina Balthasar and her colleagues have presented direct evidence that the fat hormone leptin affects a specific type of target neurons in the brain -- a prime link in the brain's regulation of the body's energy balance.

24 Jun 2004

Stimulation or drugs that target the pro-opiomelanocortin system will be effective in treating diabetes or obesity

There’s more than one way to slim a cat - at least that’s the hope of University of Florida obesity researchers, who believe pets and even people may someday benefit from gene therapy research aimed at breaking through the biochemical bottleneck that makes many middle-aged mammals gain weight.

17 Jun 2004

Asian Indian men more at risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Asian Indian men are at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, whether overweight or not, because their bodies metabolize fat like people who are obese, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

15 Jun 2004

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes, or high blood sugar, that only pregnant women get

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes, or high blood sugar, that only pregnant women get. If a woman is found to have high blood sugar when she's pregnant, but she never had high blood sugar before, she has gestational diabetes.

15 Jun 2004

Higher-than-normal amounts of a selenium-containing enzyme could promote type 2 diabetes

A study by researchers at Cornell University suggests that higher-than-normal amounts of a selenium-containing enzyme could promote type 2 diabetes.

10 Jun 2004

Cure for age-induced diabetes or cancer may be nearer than we think

Forget the drastic reduction in carbs and calories called for by diet dictators. The day when people can eat their favorite foods, stay thin and live to be 120 without getting age-induced diabetes or cancer may be nearer than we think.

5 Jun 2004

Fat fighting undermined by over active eating pacemaker

They have revealed a set of pacemaker nerve cells in the brain that appear to underlie the drive to feed which itself feeds on a complex web of signals.

11 May 2004

Protein in human milk reduces risk of obesity

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have conducted the first study to detect the presence of a protein in human milk that may explain the association between breastfeeding and reduced risk of obesity later in life.

3 May 2004

Sleep apnoea and obesity

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is a common disorder with an estimated prevalence of at least 2 to 4% among middle-aged adults, especially common in obesity.

27 Apr 2004

New Saint Louis University research sheds light on how obesity occurs

Saint Louis University researchers believe they’ve won a major skirmish in the battle of the bulge, and their findings are published in the May issue of Diabetes.

26 Apr 2004

Curves program raises metabolic rate in overweight women

Eight research studies from a team of health and fitness experts at Baylor University found that sedentary and overweight women who followed the Curves program were able to significantly raise their resting energy expenditure (REE, also known as metabolic rate), in some cases by as much as 400 kcals/day.

21 Apr 2004

Research provides better understanding of lipodystrophies disorders

More than a decade of work conducted by UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers has led to a better understanding of the underlying causes of lipodystrophies - disorders characterized by the selective loss of fat tissues, resulting in metabolic complications, such as severe diabetes and high blood cholesterol levels.

22 Mar 2004