Children who are maltreated may be at an increased risk of obesity and inflammatory disorders because of low levels of leptin—a hormone involved in regulating appetite, according to new research from King's College London.
The findings, published today in Translational Psychiatry, suggest leptin deficiency may contribute to physical health problems associated with early life stress, and provide a possible target in disease prevention.
Dr Andrea Danese, from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre and the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's, who led the study, said: "Previous studies have shown a link between early life stress and obesity, but the underlying mechanisms driving this association have remained unclear. Our findings suggest that blunted leptin release in relation to increasing levels of adiposity can contribute to the obesity risk among maltreated children. Knowledge of how childhood experiences of maltreatment become biologically embedded is key to understanding risk and planning effective treatments."
[For more of this story go to http://medicalxpress.com/news/...-linked-obesity.html]
Comments (0)