Raising levels of two gut hormones could help fight obesity

Boosting levels of two hormones in our gut could be an effective new weapon to fight obesity, a new research has suggested.

Dr Shu Lin, Dr Yan-Chuan Shi and Professor Herbert Herzog, from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, have shown that when mice are injected with PYY3-36 and PP, they eat less, gain less fat, and tend not to develop insulin-resistance, a precursor to diabetes.

At the same time, the researchers have shown that the hormones stimulate different nerve pathways, ultimately, however, affecting complementary brain regions.

While the double-barreled approach may seem like a no-brainer, the strongly enhanced effect seen was by no means inevitable. In the complex world of neuroscience, two plus two does not always make four.

When used together, the hormones independently, yet with combined force, reduce the amount of neuropeptide Y (NPY) produced by the brain, a powerful neurotransmitter that affects a variety of things including appetite, mood, heart rate, temperature and energy levels.

Each hormone also communicates with a different part of the arcuate nucleus in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain where signals can cross the normally impermeable blood / brain barrier. The stimulated regions then produce other neuronal signals deep within the hypothalamus, bringing about a powerful combined effect.

Dr Yan-Chuan Shi said that there are many factors that influence appetite control - and we now realise that there won't be a single molecular target, or a single drug, that will be effective.

She said that it will be important for drug companies to try different combinations of targets, to see which combinations are most potent, and at the same time have no side effects, or at least minimal side effects.

Their findings have been published online in the journal Obesity.