Research Team Discovers Brain Pathway Responsible For Obesity

“University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, for the first time, have found a messaging system in the brain that directly affects food intake and body weight. Reported in the Oct. 3, 2008 issue of Cell, the findings--from a study in mice--point to a completely new approach to treating and preventing obesity in humans. The discovery also offers hope for new ways to treat related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases--the most prevalent health problems in the United States and the rest of the developed world. Led by Dongsheng Cai, an assistant professor of physiology at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, the researchers looked specifically at the hypothalamus--the brain structure responsible for maintaining a steady state in the body--and for the first time found that a cell-signaling pathway primarily associated with inflammation also influences the regulation of food intake. Stimulating the pathway led the animals to increase their energy consumption, while suppressing it helped them maintain normal food intake and body weight. Scientists believe that metabolic inflammation may be at the core of many chronic, obesity-related metabolic disorders that are so common today, he adds.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124029.php