Researchers at Stanford University report that they have found a previously unknown hormone that sharply reduces the desire to eat. The new hormone named obestatin (OHB-statin), is made in the stomach and small intestine, and it seems to prompt the brain to lose appetite, resulting in possible weight control.
The study's director, Dr. Aaron Hsueh, said obestatin had not been studied in people and had been tested only in mice. Although mice given the hormone eat less, they do not lose as much weight as would be expected. Tests also suggest that the weight they do lose might not be fat.
The hormone obestatin links to another hormone, ghrelin, which makes people hungry - the opposite of obestatin. These two hormones belong to the same gene. The gene directs cells to make one protein molecule, which breaks into two smaller ones, called peptides. One is ghrelin, and the other is obestatin.
The same gene is found in at least 11 species of mammals, Dr. Hsueh and his colleagues reported, indicating that its role in controlling food intake must be important for survival. (Source: Denise Grady, New York Times, Nov. 11, 2005).