You've successfully dropped those extra pounds only to discover that they creep back on again. Columbia University researchers may have now worked out why. In a study appearing in the December 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Michael Rosenbaum and colleagues from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons show that body weight is regulated by coordinate metabolic, neuroendocrine, and autonomic systems that act to actually restore fat mass in individuals attempting to maintain their slim new figure. The authors suggest that our bodies interpret the weight-reduced state as one of relative deficiency in the hormone leptin. To test their hypothesis, the authors administered "replacement" doses of leptin to lean individuals that had recently lost weight as well as to obese individuals. The authors found that most of the metabolic, neuroendocrine, and autonomic changes that oppose the maintenance of a reduced body weight were actually reversed once circulating levels of leptin were restored to levels that were present prior to weight loss. These mechanisms lie at the center of why more than 85% of obese individuals that have lost weight eventually relapse.

These findings suggest that therapeutics directed at the leptin signaling pathway may, pending longer studies, assist in the maintenance of reduced body weight.

'"/>

Contact: Brooke Grindlinger
press_releases@the-jci.org
212-342-9006
Journal of Clinical Investigation
1-Dec-2005

Page: 1
Related medicine news :

1. New technique effective in closing accidental colonoscopy wounds
2. Why losing money may be more painful than you think
3. Enbrel provides sustained clinical improvements for ankylosing spondylitis for up to 3 years
4. Forgetful? You may be losing more than just your memory
5. Closing holes in heart important treatment for young stroke patients, study says
6. Few gay man regret disclosing HIV status to friends, family
7. Is society losing control of the medical research agenda?
8. Disclosing study outcomes to participants may backfire
9. Medical centers vary in disclosing conflicts of interest
10. Benefits of continuous NSAID use in ankylosing spondylitis
11. How to lose weight and not go hungry: HU researcher develops drug that mimics feeling of fullness