Scientists have identified a group of neurons in the brain responsible for reducing the appetite of smokers, Science reports.
Scientists from Yale University and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, conducting molecular, pharmacological, behavioral and genetic experiments in mice, have shown that nicotine stimulates neurons to send signals that enough food has been eaten. They are not the same neurons that trigger nicotine craving.
They found that nicotine affects the hypothalamic system by activating certain receptors, which in turn increase the activity of pro-opiomelanocortin neurons (POMCs), known to affect obesity in humans and animals.
According to the Yale team, drugs with a similar mechanism of action to nicotine could be used to treat obesity – by acting only on the cells that suppress appetite and not causing nicotine craving.
However, as prof. Marina Picciotto from Yale, the effectiveness of nicotine-based drugs may be limited as the smoker gains an average weight of only 2,5 kilograms after quitting smoking. In addition, human clinical trials will be needed to understand side effects – for example, the effect on blood pressure. Prof. Piccioto noted that there are people who start smoking to lose weight – which she considers a tragic mistake. (PAP)