We find that obesity research is increasingly involving a hormone, and scientists continue to demonstrate the health improvements that can result from changing the way the body responds to it.An enzyme in fat cells can alter sensitivity to leptin and cause rapid weight loss in obese mice, while improving overall metabolic health, a new study shows.

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Leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells, plays an important role in regulating our appetite, communicating with the brain that we are full. Therefore, people with a large proportion of fat cells may have high levels of leptin, but obese people may have impaired communication with the brain, which can lead to overeating and weight gain. This is called leptin resistance, and scientists are studying how to overcome this feature of obesity.

Işin Çakir, the first author of the paper on this study, said: “When this effect of leptin was first discovered, it was thought that it would be a silver bullet for the treatment of obesity.

Over the past few years, we have seen some promising progress in this area of ​​discovering the role of major proteins and intestinal hormones in leptin resistance. The latest research from scientists at the University of Michigan focuses on an enzyme in fat calling, histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6). The researchers blocked the enzyme in obese mice.

This improved the leptin detection capacity of the rat brain and resulted in 25% weight loss within a few weeks. Scientists have suggested that this is almost entirely due to the loss of adipose tissue, which is only a fraction of the reduction in the loss of lean muscle. In addition, there was no reduction in energy expenditure, such as a decrease in food intake, and mice showed improvement in liver health and glucose intolerance, as well as reduced risk of developing diabetes.

The scientists treated the lean mice with the same compound, but this did not lead to weight loss, nor were these effects observed in genetically engineered obese mice with leptin deficiency. For HDAC6 inhibitors to lose weight, this indicates that high levels of leptin must already be present in the body. But important questions remain as to whether this will work in humans.

Most HDAC6 inhibitors are toxins that break down in the body, making them unsafe to treat diabetes and obesity. The team is currently working on a version that does not contain these toxic components but still causes the same blockage in HDAC6.

“There are many compounds that can help reduce obesity in rats, but may not have the same effect in humans, or may cause weight loss in humans, but are not safe,” Kakir said. “Obviously, the most important question is: Will HDAC6 have the same effect on humans as it is safe? A lot of research is needed before these questions can be answered.