Leptin News and Research

RSS

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.

Both body and brain mechanisms are involved in effects of exercise to modulate food intake

Research to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that alterations of meal-related gut hormone signals may contribute to the overall effects of exercise to help manage body weight.

13 Jul 2011

Molasses supplementation may reduce obesity in humans

Experimental results to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, suggests that dietary supplementation with molasses extract may provide a novel approach for weight management in humans.

12 Jul 2011

New data from Zafgen's ZGN-433 Phase 1b study on obesity presented at ADA 2011

Zafgen, Inc., a pharmaceutical company pioneering novel obesity therapeutics to help the body regain and sustain a lean, healthy state by targeting imbalances in fat metabolism, today announced new data from a Phase 1b study of ZGN-433, a selective methionine aminopeptidase 2 inhibitor (MetAP2), which showed a significant improvement in cardiovascular risk markers in severely obese subjects.

27 Jun 2011

Scientists find altering hormone levels change cellular development in brain

In a study that increases the understanding of the link between fetal development and obesity later in life, researchers at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) found altering the levels of two common hormones, insulin and leptin, in utero changes the cellular development in the region of the brain that regulates appetite.

23 Jun 2011

Researchers identify nine blood proteins that alter with age

Loss of muscle mass is not only associated with disease, such as HIV and cancer, but also with the normal aging process. Anabolic steroids are sometimes used to reverse loss of lean muscle tissue but they can have unwanted side effects.

20 Jun 2011

Turning back the clock on aging stem cells to make better bone

Researchers want to turn back the clock on aging stem cells so they'll make better bone.

10 Jun 2011

Women with higher leptin levels have fewer symptoms of depression

Women who have higher levels of the appetite-controlling hormone leptin have fewer symptoms of depression, and this apparent inverse relationship is not related to body mass index (BMI), a new study finds.

7 Jun 2011

Moderate consumption of desserts with low glycemic index and glycemic load may help treat pediatric obesity

Overweight girls lose more weight and can better stay on a healthy diet if they eat sugar-free, low-fat desserts several times weekly, as opposed to any dessert once a week, a new study finds. The results will be reported Monday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

7 Jun 2011

Amylin's metreleptin clinical study data on partial lipodystrophy presented at ENDO 2011

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results from a study that showed treatment with metreleptin, an investigational treatment that is an analog of the human hormone leptin, improved diabetes and lipid control in patients with partial lipodystrophy.

6 Jun 2011

Amylin, JDRF collaborate to investigate combination therapy for type 1 diabetes treatment

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement to provide financial support for a series of clinical studies to investigate the feasibility of mixing pramlintide, an analog of the human hormone amylin, with insulin to treat type 1 diabetes.

11 May 2011

Harvard Medical School and BIDMC professor delivered Solomon A. Berson Distinguished Lectureship

Christos Mantzoros, MD, DSc, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, delivered the Solomon A. Berson Distinguished Lectureship at the annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology held earlier this month in Washington, DC.

30 Apr 2011

New book on aging

Aging is a natural part of life. From the minute we are born we are heading in one certain direction: towards death. That said, it is possible to arrive at that ultimate destination graceful and vital to our last days rather than chronically ill suffering from one or many debilitating illnesses.

25 Apr 2011

Amylin's new metreleptin data in lipodystrophy to be presented at AACE meeting

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results from a new analysis of an ongoing, long-term research study of the investigational drug metreleptin, an analog of the human hormone leptin, for the treatment of lipodystrophy.

16 Apr 2011

TZDs might serve as new agents for addiction treatment

Thiazolidinediones are a class of medications that are commonly prescribed to treat type-2 diabetes, while fibrates are a structurally-related class of medications that are prescribed to modulate lipid levels in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

6 Apr 2011

Huntingtin protein is responsible for metabolic imbalances in hypothalamus

In Huntington's disease, the mutant protein known as huntingtin leads to the degeneration of a part of the brain known as the basal ganglia, causing the motor disturbances that represent one of the most defining features of the fatal disease.

6 Apr 2011

Klotho protein discovery can lead to new class of drugs for treatment of obesity

An important discovery in mice may make a big difference in people's waistlines thanks to a team of Harvard scientists who found that reducing the function of a transmembrane protein, called Klotho, in obese mice with high blood sugar levels produced lean mice with reduced blood sugar levels.

8 Mar 2011

Scientists discover signaling pathway in brain to induce cellular leptin resistance

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a signaling pathway in the brain that's sufficient to induce cellular leptin resistance, a problem that decreases the body's ability to "hear" that it is full and should stop eating.

2 Mar 2011

Leptin receptor antagonist peptide demonstrates efficacy against triple negative breast cancer

A new peptide developed by researchers in Temple University's College of Science and Technology has demonstrated efficacy against triple negative breast cancer.

1 Mar 2011

Maternal fructose intake during pregnancy leads to sex-specific changes in fetal, neonatal endocrinology

A recent study accepted for publication in Endocrinology, a publication of The Endocrine Society, reports for the first time that maternal fructose intake during pregnancy results in sex-specific changes in fetal and neonatal endocrinology.

25 Feb 2011

Study: Leptin resistance may help prevent ARDS, ALI development in patients with type II diabetes

Resistance to leptin, a protein that plays a key role in regulating metabolism and appetite, may help prevent the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute lung injury in individuals with type II diabetes, according to a study conducted by researchers in Chicago.

13 Feb 2011