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.

Race and pre-pregnancy BMI may be key predictors of maternal weight gain

Race and pre-pregnancy body mass index both affect leptin and adiponectin levels, and leptin levels in mid-pregnancy may be an important predictor of weight gain during pregnancy, new research suggests.

19 Mar 2018

Scientists explore how to protect obese, premenopausal women from cardiovascular risk

Obese, premenopausal women can lose the innate protection from cardiovascular disease that their youth and estrogen are believed to afford, and scientists want to know how.

14 Mar 2018

Compounds derived from hops may improve cognitive, other functions in metabolic syndrome patients

A group of compounds derived from hops can likely improve cognitive and other functions in people with metabolic syndrome, new research at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University suggests.

5 Feb 2018

Researchers unravel function of protein ‘smallish’

During the development of an embryo, every single cell needs to know who it is, where it is, and what it has to do. Important is the polarity of the cell: Where is the top, where is the bottom, where are front and back? Only when the cell is polarized in the right way can it change the shape in exactly the way which is needed to form a certain structure or organ.

23 Jan 2018

Researchers discover internal body scales that regulate fat mass

Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have found evidence for the existence of an internal body weight sensing system.

27 Dec 2017

Study elucidates how obesity makes breast cancer more aggressive

Obesity leads to the release of cytokines into the bloodstream which impact the metabolism of breast cancer cells, making them more aggressive as a result. Scientists from Helmholtz Zentrum München, Technische Universität München, and Heidelberg University Hospital report on this in 'Cell Metabolism'. The team has already been able to halt this mechanism with an antibody treatment.

23 Oct 2017

Crown Bioscience announces availability of new translational models for obesity and diabetes in Europe

Crown Bioscience, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crown Bioscience International and a global drug discovery and development services company providing translational platforms to advance oncology, inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic disease research, announces the availability of their proprietary FATZO model in a European based laboratory.

12 Oct 2017

New study reveals novel gene involved in maintaining body weight

A new study published online in The FASEB Journal reveals a novel gene involved in maintaining body weight. Specifically, the study suggests that GTRAP3-18 interacts with pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) in the hypothalamus to regulate food intake and blood glucose levels.

4 Oct 2017

Physical stress in preemies plus separation from mothers may have lasting effects into adulthood

A new study suggests that physiological stress in premature infants combined with separation from their mothers may have lasting effects into adulthood.

20 Sep 2017

Researchers discover more about how consumption of sugary drinks leads to rapid weight gain

These hot summer days may tempt some of us to reach for a cold sugary drink, but scientists are finding increasing evidence that if we reach too often, we are setting ourselves up for rapid weight gain.

23 Aug 2017

Hunger-controlling brain cells offer potential targets for new drugs to treat obesity

Is the solution to the obesity epidemic all in our heads? A study by researchers at The Rockefeller University suggests that it might be.

28 Jul 2017

Study may have important implications for treatment of heart attacks and cancer

A new discovery by University of Bristol scientists helps to explain how cells which surround blood vessels, called pericytes, stimulate new blood vessels to grow with the hormone 'leptin' playing a key role.

25 Jul 2017

Scientists show how muscles request more energy from fat storage tissues

Muscles require energy to perform all of the movements that we do in a day, and now, for the first time, researchers at the Texas A&M College of Medicine have shown how muscles "request" more energy from fat storage tissues in fruit fly models.

6 Jul 2017

Scientists find lack of experimental evidence detailing biologic roles of leptin in metabolism

Discovered more than two decades ago, the hormone leptin has been widely hailed as the key regulator of leanness. Yet, the pivotal experiments that probe the function of this protein and unravel the precise mechanism of its action as a guardian against obesity are largely missing.

24 Jun 2017

Delayed eating can increase weight and negatively affect fat metabolism

New findings suggest eating late at night could be more dangerous than you think. Compared to eating earlier in the day, prolonged delayed eating can increase weight, insulin and cholesterol levels, and negatively affect fat metabolism, and hormonal markers implicated in heart disease, diabetes and other health problems, according to results from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

2 Jun 2017

Researchers uncover new way to enhance function of immune cells to combat multiple myeloma

Researchers from Belgium led by Prof. Dirk Elewaut of the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research and the team of Prof. Vanderkerken and Prof. Menu at the Hematology and Immunology lab of the VUB uncovered a new way to enhance the function of a specific type of immune cell that destroys tumors in multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer considered incurable.

1 Jun 2017

Newly discovered molecule plays central role in appetite control mechanisms

A newly discovered molecule increases appetite during fasting -- and decreases it during gorging. The neuron-exciting protein, named NPGL - apparently aims to maintain body mass at a constant, come feast or famine. An evolutionary masterstroke, but not great news for those looking to trim down -- or beef up for the summer.

28 Apr 2017

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