Neuropeptide News and Research

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Simple biomarker model to predict heart failure risk

The most widely used models for predicting heart failure rely on a complex combination of lifestyle, demographic, and cardiovascular risk factor information.

8 Nov 2012

Some types of bariatric surgery may cause bone loss, say endocrinologists

Bariatric surgery, which significantly curtails the amount of food a person can eat, is the most effective treatment against obesity and is being recognized as a potentially valuable tool in the fight against diabetes related to obesity.

3 Nov 2012

Orexin-A hormone also affects emergence after anesthesia

A neuropeptide hormone called orexin-A—which plays an important role in regulating the normal sleep-wake cycle—also affects emergence (waking up) after anesthesia, reports an experimental study in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

26 Sep 2012

Combination of two existing pharmaceutical drugs shows promise against cocaine addiction

A fine-tuned combination of two existing pharmaceutical drugs has shown promise as a potential new therapy for people addicted to cocaine—a therapy that would reduce their craving for the drug and blunt their symptoms of withdrawal.

9 Aug 2012

Link between maternal metabolic or psychological stress and obesity in offspring

A new report involving mice suggests that a relationship exists between maternal metabolic or psychological stress and the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome in her offspring. What's more, the report shows that if the stress cannot be reduced or eliminated, manipulating the neuropeptide Y (NPY) system in visceral fat may prevent maternal stress-induced obesity from occurring in the next generation.

1 Aug 2012

Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation supports work of five new C.H.S. research groups

Five new research groups for young scientists, the C.H.S. research groups, have taken up their work in basic biomedical research. To mark the occasion, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) will hold a ceremony on 20 July 2012.

14 Jul 2012

Researchers discover how GLP-2 receptor suppresses hunger and food intake

Researchers have discovered how a hormone in the gut slows the rate at which the stomach empties and thus suppresses hunger and food intake. Results of the animal study will be presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

26 Jun 2012

Researchers identify brain receptor that appears to play a central role in regulating appetite

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a brain receptor that appears to play a central role in regulating appetite. The findings, published today in the online edition of Cell, could lead to new drugs for preventing or treating obesity.

8 Jun 2012

Noninvasive test can reduce feeding-related complications among premature infants

Tufts Medical Center researchers have shown that presence of a gene strongly linked to appetite regulation is highly predictive of a premature infant's readiness to feed orally. An analysis of just a drop of an infant's saliva could be the key to preventing many feeding problems and the expensive medical complications that can occur when infants are fed by mouth too early.

22 May 2012

Hypothalamic neuropeptide changes cause obesity in low-birth-weight babies

It seems improbable that a baby born underweight would be prone to obesity, but it is well documented that these children tend to put on weight in youth if they're allowed free access to calories. Now, researchers believe they understand why this happens.

3 May 2012

Placentophagia may offer benefits to human mothers

A paper by neuroscientists at the University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College suggests that ingestion of components of afterbirth or placenta -- placentophagia -- may offer benefits to human mothers and perhaps to non-mothers and males.

28 Mar 2012

Sexually rejected male fruit flies binge on alcohol more than sexually satisfied peers: Study

Male fruit flies whose sexual advances are rejected by females, turn to alcohol finds a new study. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that rejected male flies have a tiny molecule in their brain that pushes them to drink far more than their sexually satisfied counterparts. The levels of the molecule, neuropeptide F, were higher in sexually satisfied males than in those who got no sex, leading scientists to speculate that their work could shed light on brain mechanisms behind human addiction. A similar human molecule - neuropeptide Y - may also link social triggers to behaviors such as heavy drinking and drug abuse, according to the study published in Science journal.

18 Mar 2012

Neuropeptide F in the fly's brain governs behavior linked with addiction

Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven to excessive alcohol consumption, drinking far more than comparable, sexually satisfied male flies.

16 Mar 2012

Acupuncture can reduce protein associated with chronic stress

Acupuncture significantly reduces levels of a protein in rats linked to chronic stress, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have found. They say their animal study may help explain the sense of well-being that many people receive from this ancient Chinese therapy.

20 Dec 2011

Intensive maternal care during infancy promotes effect of NPY in brain

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is the most abundant peptide hormone of the central nervous system. It is involved in various processes including stress management, the development of anxiety behaviour and body weight regulation. A collaborative research group including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg has demonstrated using mice that intensive maternal care during infancy promotes the effect of NPY in the brain.

8 Dec 2011

Scientists identify stress receptor that stimulates growth and migration of cancer cells

It's a common belief that there's a link between chronic stress and an increased risk of cancer. In new research published online by the International Journal of Cancer, scientists at The University of Western Ontario have taken a step toward confirming that belief.

22 Sep 2011

Stress management can improve chronic skin conditions

As anyone with a chronic, inflammatory skin condition, such as psoriasis, rosacea or acne, knows, dealing with unpredictable flares can cause considerable stress and have a negative impact on a person's overall well-being.

4 Aug 2011

Research: Substance P appears to trigger formation of extraskeletal bone

For hundreds of thousands of people, injuring a muscle through an accident like falling off a bike or having surgery can result in a strange and serious complication. Their muscles start growing bones.

21 Jul 2011

Anti-ghrelin vaccine decreases food intake and increases calorie burning in mice

A new therapeutic vaccine to treat obesity by suppressing the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin decreases food intake and increases calorie burning in mice, a new study finds. The results will be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

6 Jun 2011

Scientists discover key biological mechanism underpinning transition to alcohol dependence

A team of Scripps Research Institute scientists has found a key biological mechanism underpinning the transition to alcohol dependence. This finding opens the door to the development of drugs to manage excessive alcohol consumption.

1 Jun 2011