Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507270056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Dr. Jeffrey Friedman of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Rockefeller University said the research in three labs proves a hormone he calls ``leptin'' forces the body to burn excess fat, while having no apparent effect on lean tissue.
``The protein resulted in almost a complete disappearance of body fat in these mice,'' Friedman said Wednesday.
He said it was still not known, however, if the hormone was safe for long-term use, and he emphasized that ``exercise and dieting is still the only recommended way of weight control.
``There appeared to be no side effects to the hormone,'' Friedman said, ``but my instinct is to be cautious. We now have to prove that the hormone is safe.''
Three reports on leptin hormone studies will be published Friday in Science, journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The hormone leptin, a name derived from the Greek word for ``thin,'' is a protein that is normally produced by a gene called ob. This gene, first cloned last year by Friedman's lab, plays a key role in the body's control of its own weight. Researchers found that a mouse with a flawed ob gene becomes grossly obese and eventually develops diabetes and other fatal conditions. Such mice also lack the hormone leptin.
In the new research, scientists found that ob mice injected with shots of leptin quickly began losing fat cells, ate less food, spent more time exercising and generally became healthier.
``It was very, very rapid,'' said Friedman. Within two weeks, he said, most of the extremely fat mice reduced their body weight by about 30 percent. And even normal mice experienced a steep loss of body fat, he said.
Friedman said long-term use of the hormone will have to be tested in mice and other laboratory animals before any human research can be conducted.
But that may not take long.
Dr. Frank Collins, a researcher at Amgen, Inc., a Thousand Oaks, Calif., drug company that holds a license from Rockefeller University for use of the ob gene and its leptin hormone, said human trials of weight-control compounds could begin in about a year if all the preliminary lab studies go well.
by CNB