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.

High sodium intake correlates with fatness and inflammation in adolescents

Most adolescents consume as much salt as adults - some more than twice the recommended daily allowance - and that high sodium intake correlates with fatness and inflammation regardless of how many calories they consume, researchers report.

3 Feb 2014

Consumption of probiotics could help promote healthy weight in women, says study

Certain probiotics could help women lose weight and keep it off, according to a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition by a team of researchers headed by Universit- Laval Professor Angelo Tremblay.

29 Jan 2014

FDA Advisory Committee recommends metreleptin for treatment of generalized lipodystrophy

AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) recommends the investigational medicine metreleptin for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with generalized lipodystrophy (LD).

12 Dec 2013

Childhood exercise help mitigate obesity due to prenatal exposure to high-fat diets

Rats whose mothers were fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing were able to stave off some of the detrimental health effects of obesity by exercising during their adolescence, new Johns Hopkins research shows.

26 Nov 2013

Study examines impact of sleep on children's eating behaviors

It seems everyone is looking for a culprit when it comes to childhood obesity: fast food, sugary drinks, super-sized everything. But it turns out part of the blame may lie with the simple matter of turning out the lights and rolling into bed.

4 Nov 2013

High levels of leptin in blood may increase risk of heart attack, stroke

High levels of adipose tissue hormone leptin in the blood reduces blood vessels' ability to dilate, and also affects blood clotting, all of which increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

8 Oct 2013

New insights into how obesity, type 2 diabetes can create stress response in the brain

Joslin researchers have gained new insights into how obesity and type 2 diabetes can create a stress response in the brain, especially in the hypothalamus (the brain region that regulates appetite and energy production), that may contribute to altering metabolism throughout the body. The findings are reported in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

2 Oct 2013

Researchers identify mechanisms necessary to live without insulin

Several millions of people around the world suffer from insulin deficiencies. Insulin is a hormone, secreted by the beta cells in the pancreas, which plays a major role in the regulation of energy substrates such as glucose.

4 Sep 2013

Research: Chronic cocaine use may reduce body's ability to store fat

Chronic cocaine use may reduce the body's ability to store fat, new research from the University of Cambridge suggests. The scientists found that cocaine use may cause profound metabolic changes which can result in dramatic weight gain during recovery, a distressing phenomenon that can lead to relapse.

12 Aug 2013

Health benefits of sufficient sleep: an interview with Dr Monique Verschuren, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, the Netherlands

We used 6 hours or less per 24 hours as the definition of insufficient sleep, with 7 hours or more as sufficient sleep. In general, this is considered the amount of sleep that is sufficient for adults, although there can be differences between persons with respect to the amount of sleep needed.

6 Aug 2013

Researchers identify genetic cause of severe obesity

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have identified a genetic cause of severe obesity that, though rare, raises new questions about weight gain and energy use in the general obese population. The research, published in the journal Science on July 19, involved genetic surveys of several groups of obese humans and experiments in mice.

19 Jul 2013

Stress exposure may be associated with increased risk of aggressive breast cancer

Local chemical signals released by fat cells in the mammary gland appear to provide a crucial link between exposure to unrelenting social stressors early in life, and the subsequent development of breast cancer, researchers from the University of Chicago report in the July 2013 issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

19 Jun 2013

Vitamin D deficiency can increase asthma and allergy risk in obese children and teenagers

One reason why obese children and teenagers are more likely to have hard-to-control asthma and allergies may be vitamin D deficiency, a new study finds. Results of the study will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

18 Jun 2013

Protein processing breakdown in endoplasmic reticulum

With obesity reaching epidemic levels in some parts of the world, scientists have only begun to understand why it is such a persistent condition. A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry adds substantially to the story by reporting the discovery of a molecular chain of events in the brains of obese rats that undermined their ability to suppress appetite and to increase calorie burning.

17 May 2013

Neuroscientists identify cellular change in the brain that accompanies obesity

A team of American and Italian neuroscientists has identified a cellular change in the brain that accompanies obesity. The findings could explain the body's tendency to maintain undesirable weight levels, rather than an ideal weight, and identify possible targets for pharmacological efforts to address obesity.

30 Apr 2013

GI nematode infections combat obesity and improve related metabolic disorders

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, have shown in a mouse model that infection with nematodes (also known as roundworms) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders.

26 Apr 2013

UTMB researchers identify protein that can interfere with the brain's response to leptin

Ever since the appetite-regulation hormone called leptin was discovered in 1994, scientists have sought to understand the mechanisms that control its action. It was known that leptin was made by fat cells, reduced appetite and interacted with insulin , but the precise molecular details of its function -details that might enable the creation of a new treatment for obesity - remained elusive.

18 Apr 2013

Targeting pathway may lead to better hypertension treatments for at-risk patients

Obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure (hypertension) are all related, but understanding the molecular pathways that underlie cause and effect is complicated.

12 Apr 2013

Weight loss and heart damage: an interview with Dr Lili Barouch, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Obesity causes an increase in the stiffness of the heart, making it hard for the heart muscle to relax and fill with blood in between heartbeats. This abnormal stiffness can lead to congestive heart failure and other problems as it becomes more severe.

4 Apr 2013

Study: Obese people need to lose weight earlier in order to reduce risk of heart disease later

In a study of the impact of weight loss on reversing heart damage from obesity, Johns Hopkins researchers found that poor heart function in young obese mice can be reversed when the animals lose weight from a low-calorie diet.

6 Mar 2013