when talking about obesity and weight gain science is increasingly clear that the approach must be multidisciplinary, and not focus only on nutrition or sport. Thus, the hormones They play a role that may be key to addressing metabolic problems and diseases associated with being overweight, since they are involved in the feeling of satiety and other physiological processes.
We have known for years that the pairing of hormones formed by ghrelin and leptin directly influence the appetite regulationand also in the metabolic processes of loss or accumulation of fat. But until now, the mechanism by which leptin is produced and acts, especially in obese people, was not known in detail.
A study carried out by the research group in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (DIAMET) of the Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IIPSV), linked to the Joan XXIII University Hospital of Tarragona, has discovered the mechanism that regulates the biological clock in humans and leptin hormoneresponsible for satiety.
The work, published in the journal Cell Metabolismhas revealed how adipocytes, the cells that make up body fat, produce the hormone leptin, and it is the same mechanism that regulates the biological clock of those fat cells.
When these processes are working properly, adipose tissue produces leptin, which sends signals to the nervous system to produce a feeling of satiety and reduce or limit intake food. Obese people produce more leptin, but at the same time there is a leptin resistance which causes your body to not respond correctly to that hormone. Thus, they have the satiety mechanism altered.
The researcher Sonia Fernández-Veledo points out the role played here by the energetic metabolite called succinate: “we believe that through its receptor SUCNR1 it naturally regulates energy homeostasis, that is, the internal functions of our organism that Check that there is a balance between intake and energy expenditure.
The scientific team concludes that their discoveries represent a inflection point in the treatment of obesity and it is a first step to develop new treatments also for other metabolic diseases derived from weight problems.
Enraged dietitian: Keys on food so that you do not be fooled (Health and Well-being)
Photos | La Caixa Foundation – Freepik
In DAP | Avoiding a hangover after a binge could be solved thanks to this hormone, according to a promising study
In DAP | Olive pomace oil can lower cholesterol and benefit people with diabetes and obesity, according to a study