ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
A natural protein that some hoped would be a ``magic bullet'' for weight control may have a dark and dangerous side. New research links the compound with diabetes.
The protein, called leptin, received a flurry of publicity last year when studies showed that it caused extremely obese mice to lose up to 30 percent of their weight. The mice also exercised more and ate less. Some researchers raced to develop leptin or related proteins for use in human beings.
But now a lab in Israel has found that leptin may play a role in development of Type II diabetes, a serious disorder that frequently strikes obese adults.
Menachem Rubinstein, a biochemist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, said that when leptin is put on human liver cells in the laboratory, it disrupts a normal action of insulin, the hormone essential for control of sugar in the blood.
``We know that obese individuals have a high level of leptin, and we know that obese individuals have a tendency to develop diabetes,'' Rubinstein said in an interview. ``There might be a linkage. It might be that leptin is one of the agents that induces Type II diabetes.''
He said clinical studies with leptin should be approached with caution.
``One should look very carefully into using leptin as a weight-reducing agent,'' Rubinstein said. ``It should be ruled out that a long-term treatment with leptin doesn't induce Type II diabetes.''
Leptin, said Rubinstein, interrupts a function of insulin. This could cause blood sugar levels to rise inappropriately, he said.
Amgen Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif., a biotechnology firm, started human clinical trials with leptin in May to determine if the protein has any toxic side effects. The firm plans clinical studies next year to determine if leptin actually will control weight.
David Kaye, a spokesman for Amgen, said that so far researchers for the company have detected no harmful side effects from leptin.
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