Over ten years ago, scientists discovered a hormone secreted by the fat tissue that actually suppressed a person’s appetite. The hormone, known as leptin, offered the promise of an effective treatment for obesity and sparked a furious scramble to produce and market this purportedly miracle weight-loss compound.

Leptin, however, never lived up to its potential, mainly because obese people did not respond to it due to resistance that developed in the brain. Now, researchers have discovered that certain drugs, which are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as being safe, can in fact re-sensitize the brain to leptin.

They arrived at their findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, by studying brains cells in animal models. Focusing on the region of the cell where protein construction and folding occurs (endoplasmic reticulum, or ER), scientists discovered that when people are obese, this protein folding mechanism is overwhelmed, and in an effort to stem the tide, blocks the import of additional proteins, including leptin. The protein is therefore unable to act on the brain, which as a result, has become de-sensitized.

By using a “chemical chaperones,” researchers were able to reduce the stress on the folding mechanism (ER) and re-sensitize the brain to leptin, thereby allowing for its entry. ER stress that results from obesity was centered in the hypothalamus, which is a critical link between the nervous and endocrine systems.

The data is good news for people who suffer from obesity and rekindles interest in the hormone. Leptin was first discovered through the study of mice with mutations that gave them voracious appetites and resulted in them becoming grossly obese. The mutations fell into two categories: those that affected the production of leptin, and those that affected the cell’s recognition of leptin. When mice in the former group (leptin mutation) were given supplemental leptin, they lost their excessive body fat and returned to a normal weight.

The initial implications of the discovery of leptin were huge, and scientists rushed to find a way to synthesize the protein and create an effective means to combat obesity. Their efforts, as mentioned, were thwarted. The current data may very well rekindle interest in the obesity-fighting potential of this compound.

Obesity in this country is at an epidemic level. Even though the rate of increase may have reached a plateau, it still remains very high. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), obesity increases a person’s risk for such chronic conditions as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and certain cancers. Obese individuals can decrease their risk for these diseases by losing just 5 to 10% of their body weight.

If you are concerned about your weight and want to do something about it, talk to your doctor. Improvements in your health can be achieved through diet and lifestyle changes. For more information about obesity, visit the website for the Obesity Society and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).