PURPOSE To review recent advances in the pathophysiology and potential clinical applications of leptin, an adipose tissue-derived hormone. DATA SOURCES A MEDLINE search of the literature on leptin and the bibliographies of relevant papers. STUDY SELECTION All 1320 publications on leptin. DATA EXTRACTION All identified articles were reviewed. Cited publications were selected on the basis o...

Leptin is an adipocyte-secreted hormone which plays a key role in energy homeostasis. Recent "proof of concept" studies involving leptin administration to humans support its critical role in regulating energy homeostasis, neuroendocrine and immune function as well as insulin resistance in states of energy/ caloric deprivation. Moreover, interventional studies in leptin deficient children and ob...

The discovery of leptin has led to the elucidation of a robust physiologic system that maintains fat stores at a relatively constant level. Leptin is a peptide hormone secreted by adipose tissue in proportion to its mass. This hormone circulates in blood and acts on the hypothalamus to regulate food intake and energy expenditure. When fat mass falls, plasma leptin levels fall stimulating appeti...

BACKGROUND Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients are more prone to abnormal production of some regulatory peptides. In these patients, studies on the serum levels of leptin and ghrelin are controversial. This study aims to investigate serum levels of leptin and ghrelin and their correlation with metabolic and endocrine indices in PCOS. MATERIALS AND METHODS This case-control study was con...

Leptin is a hormone produced and secreted by adipose tissue. It is a member of adipokine family with a principal role in body weight regulation. It is reported that low brain leptin levels enhance the activity of hypothalamic orexigenic signals promoting feeding and suppressing energy expenditure and vice versa. Moreover, leptin via its three receptors participates in multiple neuroendocrine lo...

Endocrine dysfunctions related to iron overload, such as delayed puberty, short stature and hypogonadism, lead to major problems in thalassaemic patients. Leptin, a polypeptide with 167 amino acids produced by white adipose tissue, is a hormone which reduces appetite and increases energy consumption by affecting the central nervous system. Ghrelin, a peptide hormone produced by the stomach, sti...

Mutation of tub gene in mice induces obesity, suggesting that tub could be an important regulator of energy balance. In the current study, we investigated whether insulin, leptin, and obesity can modulate Tub in vivo in hypothalamic nuclei, and we investigated possible consequences on energy balance, neuropeptide expression, and hepatic glucose metabolism. Food intake, metabolic characteristics...

There is now considerable consensus that the adipocyte hormone leptin and the pancreatic hormone insulin are important regulators of food intake and energy balance. Leptin and insulin fulfill many of the requirements to be putative adiposity signals to the brain. Plasma leptin and insulin levels are positively correlated with body weight and with adipose mass in particular. Furthermore, both le...

Leptin, the protein product of the obese (ob) gene, is a type-I cytokine hormone secreted by fat that is integral to food intake regulation and influences almost every physiological system in juvenile and adult mammals. Since the identification of leptin in the mouse in 1994, biologists have searched for orthologous genes in other species with limited success. In this article, we report the ide...