Hormone fights fat with fat: Orexin prevents obesity in mice by activating calorie-burning brown fat
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - 16:00
in Health & Medicine
Researchers have discovered that the hormone orexin activates calorie-burning brown fat in mice. Orexin deficiency is associated with obesity, suggesting that orexin supplementation could provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders. An orexin-based therapy would represent a new class of fat-fighting drugs -- one that focuses on peripheral fat-burning tissue rather than the brain's appetite control center.