WEDNESDAY, Nov. 6, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- An appetite-suppressing hormone found naturally in the body may help scientists find ways to fight obesity.
That's the thrust of a new study presented today at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Oregon Health and Science University researchers collaborated with British researchers to examine the effects of peripheral hormone peptide YY (PYY 3-36) -- which is secreted in the gut -- on a bundle of brain neurons involved in weight regulation.
The brain neurons are called pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons. They're contained in a cluster called the arcuate nucleus, located in the hypothalamus.
In experiments with mice, the Oregon scientists found that when PYY 3-36 was introduced to the arcuate nucleus, food intake in the mice decreased by about 35 percent.
Previous research had shown that PYY 3-36 concentrations in the blood increase after a person eats a meal. That increase in blood concentrations of PYY 3-36 may indicate that this hormone is one of the natural signaling systems the human body uses to indicate it has had enough to eat.
While this study provides more information about how the body regulates food intake, the OHSU scientists say much more research is needed to develop a drug that can combat severe obesity.
While the OHSU team studied mice, their British collaborators studied the effect of PYY 3-36 on POMC neurons in 12 non-obese humans. Some received intravenous PYY 3-36 for 90 minutes while those in a control group received saline infusions for the same amount of time.
Two hours after the infusions, the study subjects were offered a free-choice buffet meal and the researchers measured their food intake. The people who received the PYY 3-36 said they felt less hungry and ate about one-third fewer calories than the people in the control group.
That appetite reduction lasted about 12 hours.
More information
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has advice on how you can aim for a healthy weight.
