Metabolic medicine
Studies to understand the regulation of appetite have revealed that a peptide occurring naturally in the gut – PYY - could be a treatment for obesity.
Obese patients dosed with the peptide reduced their intake of food.
Further studies are now in progress to develop better ways of using this peptide and similar molecules.
The paper 'Inhibition of Food Intake in Obese Subjects by Peptide YY3–36' was published in 'The New England Journal of Medicine' on 4 September 2003.
Find out more about the Sir John McMichael Centre.
Image credit: Anthea Sieveking