Summary of Unraveling the Secret of Maintaining Weight-Loss: Role of Neurotensin Unveiled:
A recent study by the University of Copenhagen suggests that the hormone neurotensin could potentially predict an individual’s ability to sustain weight loss. The study found that people who maintained weight loss released more neurotensin than those who regained weight. Neurotensin is a gut hormone released when we eat and helps determine whether we should continue eating or feel complete. The researchers hope that studying appetite hormones like neurotensin will help develop potential treatments for weight loss and obesity. However, further research is needed to determine if neurotensin is effective in weight loss treatment.
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Neurotensin: The Hormone That Predicts Weight Loss Maintenance
Maintaining weight loss is a difficult feat only a few individuals can accomplish. As per statistics, around fifty percent of the population in numerous countries is overweight, which is steadily increasing. However, a recent study at the University of Copenhagen suggests that the hormone neurotensin may predict an individual’s ability to sustain weight loss.
A Proof-of-Concept Study
The study, published in the scientific journal Metabolism, is the first time the hormone has been analyzed concerning weight loss induced by a low-calorie diet. During the study, the researchers found that weight loss led to decreased hormone neurotensin in obese mice and humans. They concluded that people who maintained weight loss released more neurotensin than people who regained weight again.
A Predictor of Successful Weight Loss Maintenance
The participants lost weight during the eight-week, low-calorie diet, and the researchers discovered that people who lost even more weight in the year following the diet released more neurotensin than people who gained weight after completing the diet. Like other appetite gut hormones, neurotensin is released by the intestines when we eat. The brain interprets the signal, which determines whether an individual continues eating or feels full.
Testing the Effect of Neurotensin on Weight Loss
People who undergo bariatric surgery to lose weight release more neurotensin when they eat. This insight prompted the researchers to test the effect of neurotensin on diet-induced weight loss, according to MD and Ph.D. Student Joachim Holt, who is the first author of the study, while we know that other gut hormones released in more significant amounts after obesity surgery help explain why individuals who have undergone obesity surgery can maintain weight loss, no one had studied the role of neurotensin in connection with diet-induced weight loss.
Potential Treatment for Weight Loss
Whether a drug simulating neurotensin release in the brain or intestines would be helpful to be something that the researchers are interested in exploring, explains senior author Signe Sørensen Torekov. However, when the researchers first discovered leptin, an essential hormone in weight regulation, they learned that amounts drop during weight loss. This could indicate that increasing the amount of leptin in the body would cause people to lose weight. Unfortunately, people who live with obesity are leptin resistant, which means that they do not respond with weight loss to the hormone. Therefore, the researchers still have a lot of work ahead of them to determine if the same applies to neurotensin.
A Promising Discovery
The study is a step towards understanding why some individuals are better able to maintain weight loss than others. While neurotensin is not a definitive answer, it is a promising discovery in the quest to find treatments for individuals who find it challenging to maintain weight loss.
Reference:
Brethvad, A.O., Zakariassen, H.L., Holt, J., Lundgren, J.R., Jakobsen, A., Hartmann, B., Lehmann, E.W., Kissow, H., Holst, J.J., Madsbad, S., Torekov, S.S., & Holst, B. (2023). Increased meal-induced neurotensin response predicts successful maintenance of weight loss – Data from a randomized controlled trial. Metabolism. DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2023.155534.
