Sounds like a definative connection between blood sugar and obesity. I'm sure this discovery must ikmpact LGND. Would you be kind enough to explain how and speculate a bit? Is this likely to affect the upcoming leptin deal or the deal with LLY? Thanks.
>>LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers said Thursday they had made a discovery that could speed up development of a drug to control obesity.
A team of scientists at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland said they had come a step closer to understanding how brain cells reacted with a hormone to control body weight.
They discovered that leptin, a hormone known to regulate food intake and weight, activated glucose responsive neurons in the brain which gave a person a ''full up'' signal.
''We have shown that it is those neurons in particular that are effected by leptin. That's how leptin signals that you have had enough to eat. It switches off the neurons that would normally respond to changes in blood glucose levels,'' Steve Logan, of the university' Institute of Medical Sciences, said in an interview.
By identifying the endpoint of the brain cell that activates the signal, which seems to be defective in obese people, the researchers hope to develop an effective treatment for weight control.
''We believe we have begun to open the 'black box' by which the brain receives signals from the rest of the body which regulates body weight and energy balance,'' said Professor Mike Ashford who led the research team.
Ashford and his team, in a study published in the scientific journal Nature, showed which part of the signaling system in the nerve cell was affected after leptin cames and identified its receptor.
They also identified which ion channel, the controller of nerve cells, was the target for leptin. They said the channel could be a target for a drug therapy for obesity.
''You could short circuit both leptin and the leptin receptor and its transduction mechanism if you could design a drug that activates that channel directly,'' Logan said. << |
