by Melissa Coci
Neuropeptide receptors in the brain. Credit: MRC Toxicology Unit, Wellcome Images
A peptide that controls appetite and metabolism is at the centre of research which aims to give insight into how peptides affect fertility.
Scientists at the University of Western Australia have in their latest research focused on the affect of peptide ghrelin on the body's reproductive system in particular on the neuropeptide kisspeptin.
Ghrelin is responsible for neuronal control of appetite and metabolism and also affects fertility.
This makes the peptide of particular interest in helping people who are overweight or obese to conceive according to Dr Jeremy Smith from UWA's School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology.
"The premise behind the [study] is… energy balance," Dr Smith says.
"Food intake and energy expenditure has really profound effects on the reproductive system.
"And so, the study is trying to really pinpoint the link in the brain in which energy balance governs reproduction."
The research on mice showed ghrelin regulates the reproductive axis via an indirect mechanism, not by directly stimulating the release of kisspeptin.
"The study pretty much opened up more questions than it solved," he says.
"The aim was to show ghrelin interacts directly with kisspeptin and we basically showed it did not show that.
"So we still don't know the exact neuronal afferences that are important for relaying the effect of ghrelin on fertility."
Kisspeptin is the peptide of interest for Dr Smith and his team's next studies.
"What's interesting now is what we're finding is … people who are overweight or obese also have difficulty with fertility and again this is also related to kisspeptin neurons in the brain," he says.
"The flipside of this could be utilising kisspeptin as a therapeutic for infertility, specifically in infertility possibly related to a person being overweight."
Dr Smith is now focusing on the potential direct effects of NPY and POMC neurons on kisspeptin.
"We're just getting some data now which is looking really promising to show that as well as regulating fertility [NPY and POMC] themselves may also regulate energy balance," he says.
"They could be a real key mediator of both of those pathways [fertility and energy balance] and really form the link in the brain which governs the … relationship between energy balance and reproduction."
Explore further: Infertility: How can the ovulation function be restored?
More information: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196978113002295
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© Medical Xpress 2011-2013, Phys.org network
by Melissa Coci
Neuropeptide receptors in the brain. Credit: MRC Toxicology Unit, Wellcome Images
A peptide that controls appetite and metabolism is at the centre of research which aims to give insight into how peptides affect fertility.
Scientists at the University of Western Australia have in their latest research focused on the affect of peptide ghrelin on the body's reproductive system in particular on the neuropeptide kisspeptin.
Ghrelin is responsible for neuronal control of appetite and metabolism and also affects fertility.
This makes the peptide of particular interest in helping people who are overweight or obese to conceive according to Dr Jeremy Smith from UWA's School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology.
"The premise behind the [study] is… energy balance," Dr Smith says.
"Food intake and energy expenditure has really profound effects on the reproductive system.
"And so, the study is trying to really pinpoint the link in the brain in which energy balance governs reproduction."
The research on mice showed ghrelin regulates the reproductive axis via an indirect mechanism, not by directly stimulating the release of kisspeptin.
"The study pretty much opened up more questions than it solved," he says.
"The aim was to show ghrelin interacts directly with kisspeptin and we basically showed it did not show that.
"So we still don't know the exact neuronal afferences that are important for relaying the effect of ghrelin on fertility."
Kisspeptin is the peptide of interest for Dr Smith and his team's next studies.
"What's interesting now is what we're finding is … people who are overweight or obese also have difficulty with fertility and again this is also related to kisspeptin neurons in the brain," he says.
"The flipside of this could be utilising kisspeptin as a therapeutic for infertility, specifically in infertility possibly related to a person being overweight."
Dr Smith is now focusing on the potential direct effects of NPY and POMC neurons on kisspeptin.
"We're just getting some data now which is looking really promising to show that as well as regulating fertility [NPY and POMC] themselves may also regulate energy balance," he says.
"They could be a real key mediator of both of those pathways [fertility and energy balance] and really form the link in the brain which governs the … relationship between energy balance and reproduction."
Explore further: Infertility: How can the ovulation function be restored?
More information: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196978113002295
Medical Xpress on facebook
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Mother's obesity may lead to infertility in the next generation
Mar 23, 2011
Levels of the hormone ghrelin are low in obese women and a recent study accepted for publication in Endocrinology, a publication of The Endocrine Society, reports that mice whose mothers had low ghrelin levels were less f ...
Infertility: How can the ovulation function be restored?
Oct 17, 2012
One of the most frequent is the existence of tumours that induce an over-secretion of this hormone. These women present with chronic infertility due to anovulation. Thanks to the work of the Inserm researchers from unit 693 ...
Naturally occurring hormone induces egg maturation
Jun 17, 2013
The naturally occurring hormone kisspeptin effectively induces egg maturation during infertility treatment, according to a clinical in vitro fertilization (IVF) study. The results were presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's ...
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Mar 16, 2009
New research suggests the hormone kisspeptin shows promise as a potential new treatment for infertility. The research is being presented at the annual Society for Endocrinology BES meeting in Harrogate. Scientists led by ...
Spread of breast cancer linked to kisspeptins which normally inhibit metastasis
Apr 16, 2013
KISS 1 is a metastasis-suppressor gene which helps to prevent the spread of cancers, including melanoma, pancreatic and ovarian cancers to name a few. But new research from Western University's Schulich School of Medicine ...
Recommended for you
Gastric bypass surgery changes the brain’s response to food
1 hour ago
(Medical Xpress)—The weight loss seen in patients after gastric bypass surgery for obesity may be helped by changes in the way the brain itself responds to food, reducing not only hunger but also the drive to eat for pleasure, ...
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19 hours ago
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20 hours ago
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User comments
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