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In recent years, researchers have made progress in studying the hormones that regulate appetite and satiety—those that transmit information from the stomach to the brain signaling that you’ve eaten. Recently, however, a group of researchers discovered one of these hormones in an unexpected place: among hormones previously associated mainly with reproduction.
From the stomach to the brain. A team of Japanese researchers has found a link between neuroestrogens and appetite regulation.
Neuroestrogens. Estrogens are hormones primarily associated with female reproduction. In that context, they regulate aspects such as the development and maintenance of female sexual characteristics. However, this family of hormones has various members that act in other scenarios.
For example, phytoestrogens are produced by plants, and neuroestrogens—produced in the brain—have long been a mystery in biochemistry.
Looking for answers. The team investigated the role of these brain hormones using mice in the lab. They compared several groups of mice, including some without the ability to produce estrogen and others whose neuroestrogen production had been inhibited. The latter was achieved by eliminating aromatase, an enzyme the brain uses to synthesize these hormones.
They found that mice lacking ovaries and those without aromatase had greater body mass and higher food consumption than the control group. The team then reactivated the gene associated with aromatase, restoring the enzyme in the mice’s brains. They saw that the mice consumed less food.
MC4R. They found that the mice which had regained the ability to synthesize aromatase—and therefore neuroestrogens—showed a “marked increase” in the expression of the melanocortin receptor (MC4R), a receptor known to regulate food consumption.
This led the team to conclude that neuroestrogens produced by aromatase were involved in the expression of this receptor, and that this was how they were able to suppress the sensation of hunger.
The role of leptin. The study also indicated that neuroestrogens could increase the brain’s responsiveness to leptin, one of the hormones already known to regulate appetite.
“We observed that the mice with restored neuroestrogen responded more effectively to leptin treatment. This may be because neuroestrogen enhances the body’s natural appetite-suppressing mechanisms,” Takanori Hayashi, co-author of the study, stated.
The study was published in The FEBS Journal.
Sights set on treatments. The researchers mention the possibility that this discovery could open new therapeutic avenues for developing weight-loss treatments.
They also suggest that understanding the physiological function of neuroestrogens could help regulate estrogen more precisely in contexts such as menopause or postpartum recovery.
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