The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7214 p314
7 September 2002

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Gut-derived hormone injection controls hunger for up to 12 hours

Administration of a gut-derived hormone involved in the regulation of food intake inhibits food consumption in man for up to 12 hours, researchers report.

The hormone, PYY3-36, is released from the gastrointestinal tract postprand-ially in proportion to the calorie content of a meal, the researchers explain. PYY3-36 inhibits neurons involved in the control of food intake.

Rachel Batterham, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, Hammersmith, London, and colleagues investigated the effects of administering PYY3-36 on feeding and weight gain in both rats and humans. In a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study, 12 healthy fasted non-obese volunteers (six men and six women) were assigned to receive an infusion of PYY3-36 or saline for 90 minutes. The researchers found that calorie intake during a free-choice buffet meal eaten two hours after the termination of the infusion was reduced by more than a third compared with saline controls.

Overall, infusion of normal postprandial concentrations of PYY3-36 decreased appetite and reduced food intake by 33 per cent over 24 hours after infusion. There was no effect on fluid intake and no differences in sensations of fullness or nausea. And PYY3-36 administration had no effect on gastric emptying.

The researchers also found that peripheral injection of PYY3-36 inhibited food intake and reduced weight gain in rats.

They conclude that PYY3-36 may have a role in "longer term" regulation of food intake. "The PYY3-36 system may provide a therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity" (Nature 2002;418:650).