Hormone Infusion May Aid in Weight Control
Hormone Infusion May Aid in Weight Control
Sept. 3, 2003 -- A hormone that has been shown to make thin people feel full does the same thing for overweight people. Is this the weight-control magic bullet we've been waiting for?
In a newly published study, both normal-weight and overweight people ate roughly a third less after getting infusions of the hormone PYY.
The findings offer the hope that PYY, which is produced in the gut, may one day help fulfill the failed promise of the widely studied hormone leptin, which is made in fat cells. Drugmaker Amgen spent millions to develop leptin as a weight-control drug. But though studies in mice were promising, the hormone proved to have little effect on appetite and weight control in humans.
"PYY signals the brain that a person is full," researcher Stephen R. Bloom, MD, tells WebMD. "We have shown that overweight people have PYY deficiencies and that their response to PYY infusions is the same as in thin people. They eat less because they are not as hungry."
In the study, published Sept. 4 in TheNew England Journal of Medicine, Bloom and colleagues examined the effect of PYY on appetite and calories eaten in 12 obese and 12 thin people. All participants were given infusions of PYY designed to mimic the natural rise in the hormone produced by eating a meal. Two hours later, they were served an all-you-can-eat lunch, and both groups ate roughly 30% fewer calories.
In addition, all the study participants ate less over the following 24 hours. They did not eat more later to make up for the less food eaten just after the PYY infusions.
"We were able to fool the brain into thinking that the stomach was full by giving the natural amount of PYY that a normal person would produce after a meal," Bloom says. "Obese people are short on PYY, so it ought to be useful to give it back again."
The next step, Bloom says, is to study whether PYY actually holds promise as a weight-control treatment -- whether it can help overweight people lose pounds.
A Hormone That Helps You Feel Full
PYY May Hold the Key to Better Weight-Control Treatments
Sept. 3, 2003 -- A hormone that has been shown to make thin people feel full does the same thing for overweight people. Is this the weight-control magic bullet we've been waiting for?
In a newly published study, both normal-weight and overweight people ate roughly a third less after getting infusions of the hormone PYY.
The findings offer the hope that PYY, which is produced in the gut, may one day help fulfill the failed promise of the widely studied hormone leptin, which is made in fat cells. Drugmaker Amgen spent millions to develop leptin as a weight-control drug. But though studies in mice were promising, the hormone proved to have little effect on appetite and weight control in humans.
"PYY signals the brain that a person is full," researcher Stephen R. Bloom, MD, tells WebMD. "We have shown that overweight people have PYY deficiencies and that their response to PYY infusions is the same as in thin people. They eat less because they are not as hungry."
How PYY Affects Weight Control
In the study, published Sept. 4 in TheNew England Journal of Medicine, Bloom and colleagues examined the effect of PYY on appetite and calories eaten in 12 obese and 12 thin people. All participants were given infusions of PYY designed to mimic the natural rise in the hormone produced by eating a meal. Two hours later, they were served an all-you-can-eat lunch, and both groups ate roughly 30% fewer calories.
In addition, all the study participants ate less over the following 24 hours. They did not eat more later to make up for the less food eaten just after the PYY infusions.
"We were able to fool the brain into thinking that the stomach was full by giving the natural amount of PYY that a normal person would produce after a meal," Bloom says. "Obese people are short on PYY, so it ought to be useful to give it back again."
The next step, Bloom says, is to study whether PYY actually holds promise as a weight-control treatment -- whether it can help overweight people lose pounds.
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