Waste from gut bacteria helps host control weight

A single molecule in the intestinal wall, activated by the waste products from gut bacteria, plays a large role in controlling whether the host animals are lean or fatty, a research team, including scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center, has found in a mouse study.

When activated, the molecule slows the movement of food through the intestine, allowing the animal to absorb more nutrients and thus gain weight. Without this signal, the animals weigh less.

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Weight Loss Surgery Cuts Cancer

Its already known that weight-loss surgery for morbid obesity can reduce the risk of diabetes and heart problems. Now, new research shows that it may also cut a persons risk of cancer by 80-percent.

Fat-regenerating ‘stem cells’ found in mice

Researchers have identified stem cells with the capacity to build fat, according to a report in the October 17th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. Although they have yet to show that the cells can renew themselves, transplants of the progenitor cells isolated from the fat tissue of normal mice can restore normal fat tissue in animals that are otherwise lacking it.

The findings may yield insight into the causes of obesity, a condition characterized by an increase in both the size and number of fat cells.

Research team discovers brain pathway responsible for obesity

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, for the first time, have found a messaging system in the brain that directly affects food intake and body weight.

Reported in the Oct. 3, 2008 issue of Cell, the findings–from a study in mice–point to a completely new approach to treating and preventing obesity in humans. The discovery also offers hope for new ways to treat related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases–the most prevalent health problems in the United States and the rest of the developed world.

Physical activity associated with reduced risk for obesity in genetically predisposed

Individuals who have a genetic mutation associated with high body mass index (BMI) may be able to offset their increased risk for obesity through physical activity, according to a report in the September 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Limiting fructose may boost weight loss

One of the reasons people on low-carbohydrate diets may lose weight is that they reduce their intake of fructose, a type of sugar that can be made into body fat quickly, according to a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Brain plays key role in appetite by regulating free radicals

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found the brain’s appetite center uses fat for fuel by involving oxygen free radicals—molecules associated with aging and neurodegeneration. The findings, reported in the journal Nature, suggest that antioxidants could play a role in weight control.

Exercise in a pill

Trying to reap the health benefits of exercise? Forget treadmills and spin classes, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies may have found a way around the sweat and pain. They identified two signaling pathways that are activated in response to exercise and converge to dramatically increase endurance.

Obesity predisposition traced to the brain’s reward system

The tendency toward obesity is directly related to the brain system that is involved in food reward and addictive behaviors, according to a new study. Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and colleagues have demonstrated a link between a predisposition to obesity and defective dopamine signaling in the mesolimbic system in rats. Their report appears in the August 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal.

Combining exercise with hormone could prevent weight gain

Once heralded as a promising obesity treatment, the hormone leptin lost its fat-fighting luster when scientists discovered overweight patients were resistant to its effects. But pairing leptin with just a minor amount of exercise seems to revive the hormone’s ability to fight fat again, University of Florida researchers recently discovered.