Leptin: A "Missing Link" Between Obesity & Diabetes?

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Leptin: A "Missing Link" Between Obesity & Diabetes?
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LEPTIN OBESITY DIABETES BLOOD SUGAR GLUCOSE LINK
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New findings in mice may help explain the link between obesity and diabetes, and what it takes to turn an overweight person into one with diabetes. Leptin, a hormone already known for its role in appetite and weight gain, may play a major role.



Newswise - Twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes are bearing down on the world's population, threatening the lives of hundreds of millions of people. But scientists are still trying to determine how the two conditions are linked, and what it takes to turn an obese person into a person with diabetes.

Today, researchers at the University of Michigan and Harvard University report new evidence in mice that may help explain that link - and may help them understand why some obese people never develop diabetes while many others do.

The study, published in Cell Metabolism, suggests that the hormone leptin regulates blood sugar through two different brain-body pathways: One that controls appetite and fat storage, and another that tells the liver what to do with its glucose reserves.

It's already known that disrupting leptin's appetite-controlling role leads to obesity, and that obesity is known to significantly raise the risk of diabetes. But the new result suggests it may take disruptions to both pathways to bring on full-blown diabetes and overwhelm the body's ability to control blood glucose levels via the action of insulin.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/510491/



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