Leptin and dopamine
Scientists have found out how the hormone leptin regulates overeating
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
The discovery of a new mechanism will allow the creation of drugs for the treatment of anorexia and obesity, scientists said. They found out how leptin controls eating behavior through the brain's dopamine reward system. Targeting a certain type of neurons will become a new therapeutic strategy.
The hormone leptin, produced by adipose tissue cells, is considered the most important link between the brain and the body, controlling the energy balance and providing information about the state of metabolic processes. Despite significant progress in studying the role of leptin in various processes, many questions remain open to scientists. A new study by the team from University of Utrecht (Netherlands) reveals the mechanism of regulation of overeating with leptin.
Article by Omrani et al. Identification of novel neurocircuitry through which leptin targets multiple inputs to the dopamine system to reduce food reward seeking is published in the journal Biological Psychiatry – VM.
Leptin suppresses hunger or reduces the attractiveness of food by transmitting signals to areas of the brain that control eating behavior through the dopamine reward system. It is known that dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area are involved in this process, transmitting signals to the nucleus accumbens, but most of them do not contain receptors for leptin.
"Although leptin receptors are present on some dopaminergic neurons, it turned out that they are also present in inhibitory neurons that regulate the activity of dopamine-releasing neurons," said the author of the work, Rogen Adan. Experiments on animal models have shown that some of these inhibitory neurons suppressed the search for food in moments of hunger, and others – at the moment of saturation.
"It turns out that leptin plays a key role in the circuit connecting the midbrain and the limbic system," the authors commented. Targeting these neurons opens up new possibilities for the treatment of anorexia and obesity. Experimental treatment strategies such as inhibition of these neurons will be tested in further preclinical experiments.
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