New brain research could help tackle obesity

Researchers have found cluster of cells which control food intake and body weight could lead to the development of specific medication that doesn’t cause nausea.

New research published in Current Biology has made a crucial discovery in how the brain controls food intake. Researchers from the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute identified a specific cluster of cells in the brain that control body weight.

Previously how the brain controls hunger has not been fully identified, however the cells found in this study could be harnessed to reduce food intake and body weight.  

The cluster of cells that the team discovered make a chemical called GABA, whose primary job is to block signals in the brain. 

The study was led by Dr Pablo Blanco Martínez de Morentin who said: “We have found a new connection between an under-studied subset of neurones in the brainstem sensing food consumption that turn off primary hunger neurones in another part of the brain. This connection uses the chemical GABA. This is exciting news as it opens up the potential for new strategies for weight regulation."

Professor Lora Heisler from the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute added: “We know that the brain controls food intake, but how it does this has not been fully established.  We’ve identified a cluster of cells within the brain that can be harnessed to reduce food intake and body weight. One way that they do this is through dampening the activity of cells that govern hunger. This is particularly important because one of the primary challenges to sticking with a diet and losing weight is hunger.

“An interesting feature of these brainstem GABA cells is that the widely prescribed obesity medication liraglutide uses them to reduce food intake.   We discovered that turning on these GABA cells reduces food intake without causing nausea, which is a common undesired side effect of liraglutide.”