Recent progress in PYY research--an update report for 8th NPY meeting.
PYY(3-36) is a gut regulatory peptide which has recently been found to reduce appetite. Variability of this effect across different experimental conditions has led to confusion and polarization of opinion on its potential as an anti-obesity treatment. This review summarizes recent progress in this area. The basic anorexigenic effect leading to weight loss in rodents has now been confirmed by several groups. Anorexia has also been confirmed in human studies although optimal route and dosing remain to be defined. Gastric bypass causes PYY levels to rise, which may in part mediate the weight loss occurring after this surgery, and levels have been found to be normal or low in obese people. The straightforward ARC model of mechanism, involving inhibition and activation, respectively, of NPY and POMC neurons, is giving way to a more complicated system involving vagal afferent signals.


CONCLUSIONS
It works, but not how we thought it did.
Ashby
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Department of Metabolic Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, 6th Floor Commonwealth Building, Du Cane Road, London W12 ONN, UK.
Bloom
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D000818:Animals; D001066:Appetite / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D019894:Peptide YY / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology
D019894:Peptide YY