Issue 173 Item 13 New Peptide Reduces Appetite

The hormone tells the brain that you are full and cut appetite by 1/3rd

Dr. Stephen R. Bloom, one of the researchers at Imperial College London and his colleagues had previously shown that the hormone, PYY3-36, could curb the appetites of lean people. But there were doubts that it would work in the obese people because studies of another appetite-suppressing hormone had proved disappointing.

In the study, both obese and lean people ate about 30 percent less after they were given a dose of PYY. The research also showed lower natural levels of PYY in the obese, which may explain why they are hungrier and overeat.

Bloom said long-term use of the hormone would have to be studied before it could be developed into a treatment for obesity that would consist of injections given before meals.

"We haven’t yet shown you get actual weight reduction. We’ve only shown you eat less," Bloom said.

The findings could also point to a more natural treatment for obesity: Bloom said a high-fiber diet is believed to boost the body’s production of PYY.

The research is "a hopeful step in the right direction," said obesity researcher Dr. David E. Cummings of the University of Washington in Seattle. "But there’s a fairly large difference between reducing food intake for one meal and actual weight loss."

The PYY hormone, one of a number of hormones that stimulate or suppress hunger, is released by the gut as you eat. It tells the part of the brain that controls appetite when you are full.

Sixty percent of Americans are obese or overweight, and obesity contributes to about 300,000 deaths a year, according to government estimates.

The 12 obese and 12 lean people in the British study ate two meals, once after an intravenous dose of synthetic PYY and once after getting a harmless saline solution.

After the PYY dose, the obese ate 30 percent fewer calories than they did after the dummy solution. The lean people ate 31 percent less. The PYY continued to curb their appetites for 12 hours, but didn’t affect their food consumption from 12 hours to 24 hours after the infusion, the researchers reported.

Without the extra dose, PYY levels were lower in the obese participants than in the lean, but the researchers said it is not known whether that is a cause of obesity or a consequence.

"If it’s a consequence of obesity, it would explain why once people become overweight, it is very difficult for them to reverse it," Bloom said. "They don’t feel as feel as full after food as normal people do as a result of their obesity." Sept New England Journal of Medicine.

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