Link between mothers' poor diets, kid...( New work may have found the missing lin...)

The study reports evidence that a premature surge of the hormone leptin in newborn mice of underfed mothers leads to a remodeling of key brain circuits that contributes to obesity in the animals later in life. Moreover, the researchers found that the early leptin surge alone was enough to cause the accelerated weight gain.

The findings offer one mechanism whereby metabolic disease can originate from early developmental experiences, the researchers said.

"Obesity has increased at an alarming rate in Western countries and is now a worldwide public health problem," said Shingo Fujii of the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan. "Genetic and environmental factors, such as a high-calorie diet, are thought to contribute to the prevalence of obesity.

"The present study suggests that a premature surge of leptin as a result of fetal undernourishment can alter energy regulation by the brain and contribute to developmental origins of health and disease."

Leptin is a hormone produced by fat that normally decreases food intake and increases energy expenditure. In many species, including humans, the hormone acts to stabilize weight and glucose balance through its effects on leptin receptors in a portion of the brain called the hypothalamus.

Earlier studies have found that mice lacking leptin show marked obesity that is restored following leptin treatment. However, obese animals often exhibit resistance to leptin's usual effects and high blood concentrations of the hormone.

Evidence has also suggested that a neonatal surge of leptin may play an important role in the formation of energy-regulating brain circuits in the hypothalamus.
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Contact: Heidi Hardman
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Cell Press
7-Jun-2005