[guide.chat] greedy gene makes you eat more

From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:22:50 -0000
?Greedy gene? that makes you eat more even when you are full is uncovered by 
scientists
Could lead to treatments for obesity
PUBLISHED: 19:28, 18 March 2012 | UPDATED: 19:28, 18 March 2012
  
The secret to staying slim may be all in your genes.
Scientists believe they have found the ?gluttony gene? which fails to tell your 
brain when you are full.
In tests on mice, they showed that a mutation on a single gene broke down 
communication in the body and led to non-stop eating and rapid weight gain.

Gut buster: Scientists believe they have uncovered a gene which makes you eat 
even when are full because it breaks down communication between the body and 
the brain
But the good news is, they hope identifying the gene could help with treatments 
for obesity which affects nearly one in four adults in the UK.
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Centre in the U.S. studied 
variations in the Bdnf gene in mice.

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Humans also have this gene and it has been linked to obesity, but the 
researchers say it was not clear until now exactly how it worked.
After a meal, the activity of this gene transmits chemical signals down a chain 
of brain cells until they reach the hypothalamus, which receives the message 
that you are full and suppresses the appetite.

Breakthrough? It is hoped the discovery will lead to treatments for obesity
However, in mice which had a mutation of this gene, these chemicals ? leptin 
and insulin ? were not being transmitted to their target, and they ate twice as 
much as those without the mutation.
Lead researcher Dr Baoki Xu said: ?This discovery may open up novel strategies 
to help the brain control body weight.?
His team found the Bdnf gene has ?short? and ?long? versions which form at an 
early stage in the womb.
Those with the ?long? form successfully sent the chemical signals to say ?I?m 
full? through a ?superhighway? of neurons in the brain to the hypothalamus.
However in those with the short form, the signals reached some brain cells but 
could not be picked up by the dendrites ? the branch-like ?fingers? coming out 
of the cells which pass messages on to the right place.
Dr Xu said: ?If there is a problem with the Bdnf gene, neurons can?t talk to 
each other, and the leptin and insulin signals are ineffective and the appetite 
is not modified.?
The hypothalamus is involved in learning and memory. Previous work has shown 
mice without the ?long? version of this gene also had memory problems.

Humans also have the Bdnf gene which researchers have identified in mice as 
causing rapid weight gain
Scientists will now be looking at whether the faulty transmission line can be 
modified, to help prevent and treat obesity, the researchers wrote in the 
journal Nature Medicine (KEEP).
Dr Xu said drugs which could stimulate Bdnf activity in the brain was the next 
step. He said: ?We have opened the door to both new avenues in basic research 
and clinical therapies, which is very exciting.?
Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum said yesterday that the 
researcher were ?on the right track? in believing that getting leptin messages 
to the brain could be the key to suppressing appetite.
But he said:?Many others on the same track hoping to find the magic treatment 
to prevent or cure obesity.
?Understandably Xu is excited having got as far as he has but fixing the 
mutation may not be plain sailing.
'Even when its fixed in mice it will be years before his solution can he be 
used in humans.?


from
Vanessa The Google Girl.
my skype name is rainbowstar123
[guide.chat] greedy gene makes you eat more

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