Lipocalin-2 or LCN2, a type of hormone, could be used as a possible treatment in individuals with obesity whose natural indications for feeling full are no longer working.
Primarily, LCN2 is produced by bone cells and is naturally found in humans and mice. Studies in mice have shown that providing animals with LCN2 long-term reduces their intake of food and thwarts weight gain without resulting in a slowdown in their metabolism.
According to Peristera-Ioanna Petropoulou, the lead author, a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, US, LCN2 functions as a "signal for satiety after meal, leading mice" to limit their intake of food.
More so, Petropoulou added, LCN2 does this by "acting on the hypothalamus within the brain." The lead author, who is currently at the Helmholtz Diabetes Center, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, Munich, Germany also said, they wanted to see if LCN2 has the same effects in humans, and if "a dose of it would be able to cross the blood-brain barrier."
LCN2 Levels Analyzed
The research team initially analyzed data from four different studies of individuals in the United States and Europe, who were either overweight, had normal weight, or obese.
The people in each study were provided with a meal after overnight fasting, and the amount of LCN2 in their blood before and after the meal was examined.
As a result, the study authors found that in people who had normal weight, there was a rise in LCN2 levels after the meal, which accorded with how satisfied they felt after they ate.
On the contrary, in those who were overweight or were obese, there was a decline in levels of LCN2 after meals. Based on this after-meal response, the study investigators grouped people as "non-responders or non-responders."
As indicated in the study, non-responders, who presented no increase in levels of LCN2 after a meal, tended "to have a larger waist circumference" and higher metabolic disease markers, which included "BMI, body fat, increased blood pressure and increased blood sugar."
Remarkably though, the researchers noted, those who had lost weight following a "gastric bypass surgery" were reported to have a restored sensitivity to LCN2, having their status changed from non-responders prior to their surgery to responders after.
Results Show the Hormone Can Curb Appetite
The team, after confirming that LCN2 can cross into the brain, discovered whether treatment using the hormone might lessen food intake and stop weight gain.
To achieve such a result, the study authors treated monkeys using LCN2 for one week. They saw a decline of 28 percent in intake of food, compared to the prior treatment within one week.
The monkeys ate 21-percent less as well than their counterparts who underwent treatment, only with saline. Furthermore, after only a week of treatment, body weight, body fat, and fat blood measurements presented a reducing trend in treated animals.
Based on their finding, Stavroula Kousteni, the study's senior author and Psychology and Cellular Biophysics professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center concluded, they have shown that "LCN2 crosses to the brain," making its way to "the hypothalamus and suppresses food intake in non-human primates."
She added, their study findings show that "the hormone can curb appetite" with insignificant toxicity. More so, their results, she continued, lay the groundwork for the next phase of the LCN2 trial for clinical use.
Check out more news and information on Obesity on Science Times.
