Two children who experienced intense, insatiable hunger that drove them to overeat have rare, never-before-seen genetic mutations that interfere with leptin, a key hormone that helps tell the body when it is full, a new case report says.
After white fat cells make leptin, it plugs into the brainstem and hypothalamus, brain regions that help control appetite. While the “hunger hormone” ghrelin constantly fluctuates, rising with fasts and falling after food intake, leptin levels remain relatively steady and are related to the body’s total amount of white fat. Thus, leptin tells the body how much energy it has stored in fat and shifts the body into “starvation mode” when those stores fall too low.
Rarely, people can carry genetic mutations that interfere with the production or secretion of leptin, or effectively block its effects in the brain. Prior to the new case report, published Wednesday (June 14) in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists had found 21 genetic variants that messed with leptin production, release or sensitivity, resulting in insatiable hunger, known as hyperphagia.
“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
