LEPTIN: FROM APPETITE SUPPRESSION TO AUTOIMMUNITY

Perinatal programming of appetite control by leptin?

The concept of fetal and perinatal programming of neuroendocrine functions has attracted growing interest within the last 15 years. Barker (1) first demonstrated the relationship between low birth weight and diseases of later adulthood such as coronary heart disease and the metabolic syndrome. Meanwhile, there is convincing evidence that intrauterine factors such as placental insufficiency lead...

Balancing susceptibility to infection and autoimmunity: a role for leptin?

The immune responses to many infections have long been known to share features with autoimmune responses. In particular, both types of response are typified by the enhanced reactivity of T helper 1 cells - with high levels of interleukin-2, interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha - and are accompanied often by organ-specific and/or systemic damage and the production of IgG. Paradoxical...

Epistatic Suppression of Fatal Autoimmunity

Appetite suppression through delayed fat digestion.

High-fat diets are often associated with greater caloric intake and weight gain. Since satiety during fat intake is induced by fat in the intestine we investigated the efficiency of a lipid compound that retards fat digestion to regulate fat intake. We found this compound to reduce high-fat food intake, body weight and blood lipids in Sprague-Dawley rats, without causing steatorrhea. The absenc...

Protein appetite is increased after central leptin-induced fat depletion.

Leptin reduces body fat selectively, sparing body protein. Accordingly, during chronic leptin administration, food intake is suppressed, and body weight is reduced until body fat is depleted. Body weight then stabilizes at this fat-depleted nadir, while food intake returns to normal caloric levels, presumably in defense of energy and nutritional homeostasis. This model of leptin treatment offer...