Obesity increases the risk of diseases and health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Binge-eating disorder is characterised by periods of excessive uncontrolled consumption of food, followed by uncomfortable fullness and feelings of self-disgust.
Using an experimental model, the researchers found when administering pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP), a peptide and hormone produced by neurons, in a specific area of the brain called the "central amygdala," it reduced the intake of food and led to weight loss.
However, this is the first report of PACAP effects in the amygdala, a region of the brain outside the hypothalamus, involved in fear but also in the emotional component of eating, they said.
The researchers also discovered how PACAP decreases food intake when injected in the amygdala. In general, food intake can be decreased in two ways: eating fewer meals of normal size during the day, or smaller meals.
"We found that amygdalar PACAP reduces the amount of food eaten within meals, but not how many meals are consumed," said Valentina Sabino, assistant professor of pharmacology and psychiatry, and co-director of the Laboratory of Addictive Disorder at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).
In addition, they found that PACAP effects on food intake and body weight were dependent on another brain factor: the growth-hormone called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).
"The effects of PACAP on food intake and body weight were absent when it was given together with another drug that blocks BDNF signalling, suggesting that PACAP acts through BDNF," said Sabino.
"The PACAP system may hypothetically be the target of medications to treat not only obesity but also binge-eating, a disease characterised by excessive, uncontrollable consumption of food within brief periods of time," added coauthor Pietro Cottone, associate professor of pharmacology and psychiatry at BUSM.