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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many experts blame the obesity epidemic on poor diet and a lack of exercise -- but new research suggests a chemical in the brain may also play a part in weight gain.
After recent studies showed that mice missing a copy of the gene for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were prone to overeating and obesity, scientists turned to humans for answers. BDNF is chemical produced in the brain. They looked at patients with WAGR syndrome, a rare condition in which two genes located near the BDNF gene are missing.
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Researchers found 58 percent of the patients lacked one copy of the BDNF gene. By age 10, all of those patients were obese and reported having a strong tendency to overeat. Other patients were no more likely to become obese than the general population.
This is a promising new lead in the search for biological pathways that contribute to obesity, Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the National Institute of Healths Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, was quoted as saying. This finding may eventually lead to the development of new drugs to regulate appetite in people who have not had success with other treatments.
SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:918-927
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