Submit a Letter to the Editor for:
Michael Rosenbaum, Melissa Sy, Katherine Pavlovich, Rudolph L. Leibel, Joy Hirsch
J Clin Invest. 2008;
118(7):2583
doi:10.1172/JCI35055
Abstract |
Full text
|
PDF
I
ncreased hunger and food intake during attempts to maintain weight loss are a critical problem in clinical management of obesity. To determine whether reduced body weight maintenance is accompanied by leptin-sensitive changes in neural activity in brain regions affecting regulatory and hedonic aspects of energy homeostasis, we examined brain region–specific neural activity elicited by food-related visual cues using functional MRI in 6 inpatient obese subjects. Subjects were assessed at their usual weight and, following stabilization at a 10% reduced body weight, while receiving either twice daily subcutaneous injections of leptin or placebo. Following weight loss, there were predictable changes in neural activity, many of which were reversed by leptin, in brain areas known to be involved in the regulatory, emotional, and cognitive control of food intake. Specifically, following weight loss there were leptin-reversible increases in neural activity in response to visual food cues in the brainstem, culmen, parahippocampal gyrus, inferior and middle frontal gyri, middle temporal gyrus, and lingual gyrus. There were also leptin-reversible decreases in activity in response to food cues in the hypothalamus, cingulate gyrus, and middle frontal gyrus. These data are consistent with a model of the weight-reduced state as one of relative leptin deficiency.
Guidelines:
The Editorial Board will only consider letters that we deem relevant and of interest to our readers. We will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review, nor will we post letters that are essentially a reiteration of another letter. All accepted letters will be posted on our website within one week of acceptance. The Editors reserve the right to edit any letter for length, content, and clarity. Authors of all accepted letters will be asked to preview any changes. Authors will be notified by e-mail if their letters were not accepted. As this is a final decision, no appeals will be considered.
Specific requirements: All letters must be 400 words or fewer. You may enter the letter as plain text or HTML, if you wish. The author's name and e-mail address are required, and will be posted with the letter. All possible conflicts of interest must be noted, even if they are not posted. If you wish to include a figure (keep in mind that non-peer-reviewed data will not be posted), please contact the editor directly at editors@the-jci.org.
